Silence is Silver
by TheCynic'sDream
Summary: When one loner meets another they change the lives around them forever- but can they change themselves?  When Hinata stumbles upon Gaara's dark past can she find the strength to help fix things before his secrets destroy him? GaaXHina
1. Chapter 1

Hi everyone, this is the first chapter of my first story, so I hope you like it. I'm really bad at beginnings, so please keep reading even though it may seem a bit strange it'll pick up and get good really soon, I promise. Also, since this is my first story, I love reviews, but please, no flames.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters in it** *tear*

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The sound of chairs clattering filled the room and the students of Konoha High burst into the halls for lunch period. Hinata gave a small sigh as she slowly put her books into her bag and got up from her seat. The last to leave the room, as usual, but she was in no rush to start the hated hour.

After making a stop at her locker to grab her lunch, Hinata quietly walked into a deserted classroom and put her stuff down on a desk. She hated lunch, hated watching everyone rush to join their friends for the celebrated social period, hated no one noticing little quiet Hinata left behind, alone. They made fun her, too, made fun of distant, shy Hinata with the stutter and weird blue hair. But Hinata wasn't one to be bitter.

She reached to turn on the light—and let out a small scream. Sitting in the back of the room, alone, in the dark, was Gaara. He wasn't eating, just staring into space. Hinata started to blush fiercely, and then made to take her stuff and get the hell out of there.

Gaara had only been at Konoha High for a couple of months now, and he hadn't made a single friend, or even uttered a single word. When he looked at you, there was a hard coldness in his eyes, and he scared Hinata. Some of the other students had even begun calling him a monster.

At that moment Gaara looked directly at Hinata, causing her to blush even more. He had pale green eyes, like sea foam. Then he looked away, and Hinata took her stuff to eat in another classroom.

That was strange, what was he doing in there, in the dark, all alone?

* * *

Hinata walked up to the driveway to see three cars sitting in it behind her cousin Neji's. Of course Neji would have his usual flock of friends over, like he did every day. Not that it mattered; Hinata always went straight to her room to do homework like a good girl anyway.

She took her shoes off and hung up her jacket. On her way to her room, Hinata passed by her father's office and the living room, which held her cousin, along with his friends Tenten, Kiba, Naruto, Sakura, Rock Lee, Ino, Sasuke and Shino. She ignored both them and her father, knowing that unless they wanted something, they would take no notice of her. Eh, time for homework.

During lunch the next day, it was a nice day, so Hinata decided to eat outside. Under her usual tree, off to the side from everyone else. She took out her chopsticks and began to eat. A leaf fell to the ground next to her, though there was no wind, and Hinata looked up, to see Gaara sitting in the top of the tree, staring down at her. Startled, and a little creeped out, Hinata finished her food quickly and left.

* * *

Hinata ran down the block, desperate to get home as fast as she could. _If I'm not home in time for dinner, Father will be furious!_ She thought frantically as she dashed home. Suddenly, three figures walked out from an ally and stood blocking her path. It was Itachi and his cronies, Deidera and Kabuto, all seniors.

"Hehe," Itachi chuckled, a wicked smirk crossing his face as Hinata skidded to a stop, "look who we have here, guys, it's the Hyuugas' pet freak. What say you we teach her a lesson?" He turned to look at his buddies, who cackled, standing on either side of him.

"U-u-um, p-please let me through," squeaked Hinata. These guys were no joke. They thoroughly enjoyed beating up underclassmen, and Hinata, who was a sophomore, was one of their favorite punching bags. "I-I really have to g-go, if I'm late m-my father w-w-will—"

Hinata broke off as the wind got knocked out of her from the punch Itachi had just planted in her stomach, sending Hinata to the ground, the contents of her bag spilling everywhere. Coughing and gasping, Hinata got on her hands and knees, trying to catch her breath. She never got the chance, because Itachi picked that moment to kick her in the side, and Deidera and Kabuto joined in as well. Hinata curled into the fetal position, tears streaming down her face as she tried to protect her vitals. This happened about once a week or so, but Itachi and his gang never seemed to tire of pounding her over and over again. Eventually, Hinata just took the beatings in silence—defending herself would just provoke them to do worse.

Someone managed a kick to her head, sending stars across her vision. As she started to lose consciousness, Hinata became vaguely aware that the beating had stopped. A scream sounded, terrified, but distant, and then everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

So here goes chapter 2. Hope it picks up a little and lets you get to know Gaara a bit more. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters.**

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The first thing Hinata became aware of was that she was lying on something soft, like cushions. The second thing she became aware of was pain. She hurt all over.

Hinata opened her eyes, and then shut them again against the bright light. She slowly cracked them open, getting used to the light, and saw a white ceiling that was not her own, or any that she knew for that matter. Then came the voices. She could hear them, somewhere behind her, arguing in a fierce undertone. Or rather, lecturing. Hinata couldn't make out the words, but the one voice she heard the most sounded pretty pissed off.

Hinata tried to get up, but was met with a sharp stab of pain and let out an involuntary groan.

The voices stopped, and suddenly a blond head was leaning over her.

"Oh look, she's up," said the voice of the girl who had been lecturing, "Gaara, get over here."

_Gaara?_ Fear suddenly gripped her as she remembered being late, running home, Itachi and his thugs stopping her. _Oh no I'm late for dinner!_ _Father will—_

"Hi, I'm Gaara's sister, Temari. You look like you picked one hell of a fight with a blender or something."

"W-Where am I?"

"You're at our place. Gaara brought you here, you were unconscious. We treated your wounds, but you'll be sore for a while."

"B-but Itachi and the others—?"

"They won't bother you anymore." The voice was soft and deep and rich. Hinata looked over to see the back of Gaara's dark red head, the front of which was staring out the window. He was in his usual all-black, hands in pockets.

"Oh Gaara, you didn't! You told me you only—" Temari sounded concerned, but Gaara cut her off.

"No, I didn't."

Hinata was now utterly confused. As she tried to put the pieces together, she suddenly remembered: "What time is it!"

"It's 2 on Thursday afternoon," replied Temari.

"Oh, no! I'm late by almost a whole day! My father, he'll be so furious… I'm dead!"

"That's alright, Gaara will walk you home. You can explain it to him, I'm sure he'll understand."

Hinata's father was very strict, almost never lenient, and severely disliked his oldest daughter. He would not understand; but before Hinata could protest, Gaara was at her side. She stood up, but started to fall over. Gaara took her arm to steady her, and she blushed a deep scarlet as the contact sent shivers up her arm. Gaara grabbed his jacket and led her out the door.

It just so happened that Neji was the only one home when Gaara and Hinata reached her house. Hinata had forgotten that her father had gone away for a few days on business. They found Neji in the living room, watching TV and texting at the same time.

When he saw Hinata's disheveled appearance, he jumped up from the couch with a look of serious concern. Though he acted indifferent and sometimes cold to her (even more so in front of his friends/father), he truly did care about his meek younger cousin.

Then Neji saw Gaara. The look of concern slid off his face and was replaced with one of ferocious anger.

"What did you do to her, you monster!" he snarled, getting ready to fight.

"Neji, no! Gaara didn't do anything. When Itachi and the others hurt me, he saved me."

"Oh." He relaxed his fighting stance, but continued to eye Gaara with suspicion. "Help me take her up to her room, then."

Gaara moved to let Neji take some of Hinata's weight which he had been supporting the whole time, and they brought Hinata upstairs and set her down on her bed. Neji walked out, claiming he had his friends coming over and had to get ready, leaving Gaara and Hinata alone in Hinata's room.

**Hinata's POV**

_This is weird._ I thought, sitting in an awkward silence with Gaara.

"So—um—ah—t-thank you Gaara, for saving me, and then helping me out."

"Hn," was all Gaara said, then he turned to leave.

"Gaara?"

"Hn." he stopped, but didn't turn around.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Hn,"

"Why was you sister so concerned when you said Itachi wouldn't be bothering me anymore?"

He turned around and looked at me, and there was something unreadable behind those hard, pale eyes, "It's because, before we moved here, I used to fight a lot. I was good at it, too. A day came when some guy pissed me off. I almost killed him. He spent the next three months in the hospital. I made a promise afterwards to never lose control like that again. Temari was worried that I had gone too far with your thugs after seeing what they'd done." He paused, "You probably think I'm a monster now, too."

I didn't answer. It was the longest speech I had ever heard Gaara give. Then again, the first time I had heard him speak was earlier that day, so I guess it wasn't saying much. After Gaara finished speaking, his eyes softened, like leaving the topic of those hard moments could make the hardness he projected to everyone leave as well. This information should have made me more afraid of Gaara, but seeing his eyes change like that, I couldn't manage to be scared of him at all.

"Thank you," I said softly.

"For what?"

"For sharing that with me."

"Hn." He turned his back to me and started to leave, "See you." He said, so quietly I almost didn't hear it.

When he reached the door, I scrambled up and rushed over to him awkwardly, due to my injuries. I stood just behind him, "I don't think you're a monster, Gaara." And then he left.

I sat back on my bed, grinning slightly at the looks I imagined Sakura and Ino would have on their faces as they stared at none other than Gaara walking out of our house.

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Hope you liked it! =)


	3. Chapter 3

Here's the next chapter, sorry it's so short. It's a lead-in into the next chapter, so my options were either a super short chapter and then a normal one, or one insanely long and blabbing chapter that couldn't even keep my attention, and I wrote it!

haha, anyway so here it is, I'll write more soon, and since it's summer and I'm stuck at home with nothing else to do, it'll be soon I promise.

**Disclaimer: you know the drill**

Enjoy!

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The next day Hinata looked for Gaara during lunch, in the classrooms, in the lunchroom, and lastly, in the tree, but she couldn't find him. Slightly disappointed, she was just heading toward her locker to get her books for the afternoon when she found him—or rather, her face found him.

Distracted, she had walked straight into him in the middle of the otherwise deserted hallway. Her eyes watered as she rubbed her nose, mumbling an apology to whoever it was she had bumped into.

Gaara turned around and looked at her as if she hadn't just collided face-first with his back. He looked at her, but he wasn't seeing her. There was a deep loneliness shining in his pale eyes, which had gone hard, and Hinata could tell that he was a million miles away.

He turned around and started to run in the other direction down the hallway. Hinata started to follow him, but his legs were much longer than hers and she couldn't catch up. It felt like one of those nightmares, why couldn't she catch up to him?

Just then her foot caught on the other one and Hinata found herself sprawled on the ground, her face on the cool floor. _Ow, ow, ow…_ and suddenly, he was there next to her, helping her up. She looked up and saw his eyes, now filled with something unreadable, the sadness only a shadow behind it.

"Be more careful," he said, not unkindly.

"S-sorry,"

He turned and started to walk out of the school, even though it was the middle of the day.

"W-where are you going?"

"To a tree." Was all he gave by means of a reply. He pushed the door open and began to walk out.

"W-wait!" he stopped. "W-w-will you come over after school?" Hinata blushed so deeply her whole face must have gone fiercely red. Never in her life had she _ever_ done something so bold. But… there was something about Gaara that made her want to be bold, that gave her the courage to speak up.

There was a moment's silence, and Hinata almost died from embarrassment, anticipating what she knew the answer would be and regretting her boldness with every ounce of her being. But then—

"Sure." And he walked out of the school and away down the sidewalk.

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Hope this builds some excitement for you all ;)


	4. Chapter 4

Here's chappie numbah 4! I tried to let you into Gaara's mind a little, and I hope you like it! R&R please :) reviews keep me writing, let me know what you think of it, and if there's anything you want to see happen, I love suggestions.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto etc...**

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Hinata walked down the street, approaching the corner around which would be her house. She had spent the rest of the day in a nervous daze, unable to concentrate in her classes, and hadn't even noticed one of her teachers calling on her until the girl next to her tapped Hinata.

Why was she so nervous? Maybe it was the fact that she hadn't invited anyone over in four years. Maybe it was the fact that this was the first time in such a long time, she was actually exited to go home. Maybe it was the fact that she had no idea what to do now; that first step had come out of nowhere and was uncharacteristically bold for Hinata. As it was, there was nothing she could do now but watch and see what would happen as she approached her driveway to find Gaara leaning against the tree that shaded the front of the Hyuugas' house.

"H-hey," she said timidly when she got close enough. Gaara just nodded in response. Hinata unlocked the door and let Gaara inside.

**Gaara's POV**

Their house was huge. And I mean _huge_. Compared to their place, Temari, Kankuro and I were living in a hole in the wall. Last time I was here I hadn't had a chance to really look at it.

She led me up the stairs and into her room, which was meticulously neat. Pretty impressive, I thought, for a teenage girl. Temari's room never was, and most likely won't ever be, clean like that.

She offered me her desk chair like a good little hostess and sat herself down on her bed. I took the chair and straddled it backwards, leaning on the back and looking over at her.

"So, u-um… yeah." Conversation failed. She blushed.

I looked at her in the silence. The afternoon sun streamed in from the window and made her midnight-blue hair glow. It's strange, I thought, she's the first person I've ever met who I haven't hated right on the spot. Maybe it's 'cause she's always alone, like me. And she's not loud. Most girls are loud. I hate loud people.

"G-Gaara?"

"Hn,"

"C-can I ask you a question?"

I nodded, waiting.

"Why did you leave school today?"

I paused, not sure how to answer. If anyone else had asked me that question, I would have pounded them then and there, depending on who it was, or just given them part of an answer that they wouldn't have understood. But there was something about Hinata, something that made me want to trust her, which I've never done with anyone before, ever. There was something about her gentle curiosity that was genuine, and made me want to confide in her, to tell her the truth. So I did.

"Because I was confused. I've only ever told one other person what I told you yesterday, and it didn't end well. I didn't know how to confront you after that. I went to go sit in a tree. I like trees. When I'm hurting, I go sit high in a tree, and it feels like I've left all my pain and my problems down behind me on the ground. Then when I come down it doesn't hurt as much and I can face whatever it is. The last time I told that to somebody. It hurt a lot, and I was afraid you would hurt me, too. I didn't think I could handle that pain again." I paused in my ridiculously sentimental confession, then looked directly at her, "But don't you dare tell anyone I said any of this. Ever."

Timid Hinata didn't even look startled at this sudden outburst, like she was used to people making harsh threats in her face. Not that what I said was meant to be harsh or a threat. Or at least, not really.

"Who would I tell, anyway?" she said softly, half to herself, and I knew then, for sure, she was just as alone as I was. I didn't know what to do next, but she saved me by changing the topic a little. Fine by me, I hated being on the spot.

"The last time anyone cared enough to come over was four years ago." She said. It was more matter-of-fact than sad. "Then they found other, more popular friends, and I don't really exist for them anymore."

I was put off balance for a second. Then I got up and sat on the bed next to her. She blushed as she realized I was right next to her.

"The closest things I've ever had to a friend are my brother and sister, and they hated me too until a few years ago. I've never had a friend really." I said it, and I had no idea why. It just came out. That's never happened before either.

I looked at her. Our faces were really close. She noticed that, too and a light pink blush crawled up her cheeks and into her hairline, and she looked at me with those shinning pearl orbs. I leaned in a little, and the next thing I knew, we were kissing. Her lips were soft against mine, and I cupped her jaw in my hand. Her skin was smooth. We broke apart, and sat there for a moment. As embarrassing as it is to admit, that had just been my first kiss. And judging by the bright red her whole face had just turned, it was hers, too.

**Hinata's POV**

We disconnected, and I looked at him, knowing I was probably turning bright red all over. My first kiss. Wow. I looked at him again, and we lapsed into another semi-awkward silence. Suddenly, my watch, which had been sitting on the night table, started randomly beeping as watches sometimes do. I glanced at it, and had a mini-heart attack—5:52, almost dinnertime! I had to hurry and set the table before my father got home from his trip or it would not be pretty.

Gaara seemed to understand, because he got up and we made our way downstairs. Past the dining room, whose table was awaiting my services, past the living room, still crowded with Neji's friends, who were allowed to stay much later, past my father's vacant office, and to the door. Gaara put on his jacket (and his shoes) and paused at the door. We stood, not sure what to do, until he gave me a light pat on the shoulder and an awkward wave before stepping outside.

What an awkward good-bye, I thought. Turning around I saw something I didn't know I'd been dreading until I saw it: The heads of Ino, Sakura and Tenten peeking out from the living room. Uh-oh. I should just ignore them, pretend I didn't see.

"Hinata!" well there goes that idea. It was Ino, "Well, well! Looks like quiet Hinata has a naughty side, too. What're you doing having Gaara in your house? You know, they're saying he's dangerous. A monster, even."

"U-u-um, umm, ah," I blushed and started meshing the points of my two index fingers together, looking down. Then I paused for a moment, mentally at least. No! "It's none of your business what I'm doing having him over! You should care less about what they're saying, because it's not accurate. Gaara is not a monster! And if you really want to know what he's like, why don't you try to get to know him a little, rather than just listen to your precious gossip?"

Oh my god, what had I just done? I was in for it now. I went back to looking down and putting my fingertips together, waiting for Ino to react.

"Oh. Okay then." And they just walked away.

I went to go set the table. What the hell just happened?

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I hope you liked the new developments! woah, Hinata, getting bold are we?

later!


	5. Chapter 5

Here goes chapter 5. Tell me how you think it turned out!

**Disclaimer: For some reason, there's a rumor going around that Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto, not me. Sadly, this is one rumor that IS true (*tear*)**

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The next few weeks passed by in a happy blur for Hinata. Suddenly, She and Gaara were two of the most noticed people in the school. Everyone was talking about them. That didn't really matter, though. It's not like either of them cared.

It just so happened that Hinata's house was on Gaara's route to school. He would wait outside for her, leaning against the tree, and they would walk together in the misty mornings. After school, they would go to one of their homes. Most of the time it was Gaara's—they both preferred it to the house full of Neji's friends.

The house was quiet, for the most part. Temari was very welcoming to Hinata, but she was in college and spent most evenings out. Kankuro would come home, take food and shut himself in his room to play video games. Hinata didn't mind, even though she found Kankuro to be a bit of a pervert (a harmless one though, as claimed by Gaara).

Gaara and Hinata were quiet people, and neither really talked much. Their time spent together had lots of silences, but not of the awkward type. Hinata got to know Gaara by being with him.

**Hinata's POV**

It was Saturday. I walked up the steps to knock on the door of Gaara's house. He opened it before I knocked, and invited me in. I watched him grab his jacket and slip a set of keys into his pocket before slipping on his converse and taking me back outside.

Gaara led me into the garage, through the space where Temari's car was usually parked, past Gaara's shiny motorcycle, and around to the passenger seat of Kankuro's jeep. He opened the door for me, and I climbed inside. Gaara was always doing overly polite, gentlemanly things for me like that. It was cute. He slid into the driver's seat and started the car with the keys that had been in his pocket.

As we pulled out of the driveway, I asked, "Does Kankuro know you took his jeep?"

Gaara took out his cell and sent a quick text message and smirked, "He does now." Sure enough, as we started down the street, I turned around in my seat to see a very disgruntled-looking Kankuro stick his head out the window to shout at us, his fist in the air. Gaara chuckled—he had seen it too.

* * *

We drove into town and went first into one of those small cafés, the family-run type. Gaara being an insomniac, he had one of those triple strength espressos or something of the sort. I had herbal tea. When I get caffeine in me, it's not pretty.

As we sat down at a table in the corner, next to the window, I began to notice the sidelong stares some of the other customers were giving us. It was Gaara, probably. I mean, come on, some teenage guy in all black with major dark circles under eyes that glare at everyone and everything,comes into a coffee shop with a girl and tell me that's not an uncommon sight. Not to mention the fact that he was super-attractive, but most people considered him scary.

"They're staring," I pointed out quietly.

"I know." Of course he would, Gaara noticed everything. I guess that's what you get when you don't talk much: a lot of opportunities to observe things.

"What's there to stare at?"

"They're staring at you,"

"Me?" I was incredulous. "Why would anyone be staring at me? I'm nothing special."

"Stupid, they're staring at you because you're beautiful."

I knew I was turning a deep shade of red, but I had no idea how to respond to that. I looked out the window and noticed it was starting to rain. Seconds later it was a full-on downpour.

"Wanna go see a movie?" Oh god, I'm such a spaz. I hoped I didn't sound as random and spaced out to him as I did to me. But, hey, movies go with the rain.

"Sure." He didn't seem thrown off by my sudden request in the least. Or maybe he was just being polite. We put on our jackets and stood under the awning of the café, steeling ourselves for the dash across the street to the movie theatre.

**Narrative POV**

"What do you want to see?" Asked Hinata, looking up at the movie listings.

"Something marginally interesting. No love stories."

_I can respect that_, though Hinata, _after all, he_'s_ a guy_.

They settled on an action movie, nothing too intense. Hinata and Gaara loitered outside the entrance to the theatre. They were fifteen minutes early for the movie, and both of them disliked the annoying previews that just played over and over and over.

Into the lobby and up to the ticket box, unnoticed by those two, came a group of teenagers consisting of Ino, Kiba, Sakura, Naruto, Tenten, Sasuke, Neji and Shino. Kiba was the first to notice them.

"Hey guys, look who's here," Kiba grinned and nudged Naruto.

"Let's spy on them and see what goes on!" Said Naruto the über-creeper.

The others agreed, and bought tickets for the movie Hinata and Gaara were standing outside.

Gaara leaned in a little towards Hinata, "Take a look at who's over there," he said quietly, and Hinata noticed a little mischievous glint in his eye. "Heh, let's spy on them."

_This should be fun._ It appeared that they now had something to make the movie interesting for herself and Gaara.

* * *

The two groups went out different sides of the theatre, and that was when they bumped into each other—literally. Taking a step back, all ten of them looked at each other for a moment before realizing exactly what was going on and bursting out in uncontrollable, side-splitting laughter. Naruto and Kiba even fell to the floor.

Several minutes and many dirty looks (from movie-goers and employees alike) later, the laughter finally subsided and the two groups looked at each other in a slightly different light. Something had clicked, and an unspoken agreement to get along was made as they piled into their respective cars and all headed to the Hyuugas' residence.

It was a strange feeling for Hinata, to be sitting in the living room with her cousin's friends (who happened to be very well-liked at school). She was sitting with the three other girls on the rug, mostly listening to them making small talk. She had been given the full interrogation and found that she wasn't so different from these girls. So why had they become popular, and she forgotten?

Gaara was sitting in the corner with Sasuke, Shino and, surprisingly, Neji, looking cool with their I'm-too-cool-to-hang-out expressions. At least he wasn't alone, thought Hinata. Naruto and Kiba, with their inexhaustible supplies of energy, were wrestling for the TV remote. It was nice, but it was a little strained. Hinata and Gaara still didn't quite belong…

* * *

I apologize for the corny/cliche moment, don't kill me 'kay? Anyway I hope this one turned out okay, I had some trouble with it which is why it took me so long (a whole day wow *notes sarcasm*). I'm not sure where to take this next, so it might be a while until I update again, and if anyone wants to give me some ideas, they'd be much appreciated. I am really looking for some reviews, it keeps me writing, but if nobody is interested in the rest of this story, then I might as well stop writing it... so REVIEW, or else! haha kidding, but if you review, I'll give you a cookie *waves delicious cookie under noses*

anyway, until next time.


	6. Chapter 6

"Come on," pleaded a slightly desperate Hinata, pulling with all her might on the arm of a certain redheaded boy. Said boy was dragging his feet in the dirt, trying to prevent Hinata from making any progress towards the front door of the Hyuuga residence.

"Gaara, come on! My father _hates_ tardiness. He'll be really mad if we're late!"

Gaara gave her an uncharacteristic pleading look. He did _not_ like people, especially fathers. But, catching the look of desperation in her eyes, Gaara gave a small inward sigh and allowed himself to be escorted up the step and in through the door.

"Thanks for doing this," she said quietly.

"Hn." Hinata could tell he was uncomfortable. She didn't blame him. Gaara hated crowds of people. In fact, the only people he seemed to tolerate the presence of were his siblings and Hinata herself.

She took his hand and squeezed it briefly before knocking hesitantly on the door of her father's study.

"Enter," called the cool, commanding voice through the device on the wall. Hinata slid the door open and slipped inside with Gaara behind her. There, sitting behind his large mahogany desk and watching them coolly, was Hiashi Hyuuga. He was an imposing figure; his long hair was tied back in the same fashion as Neji's, and those pale eyes that missed nothing were staring right at Gaara, as if they could see right through him. The man was positively emitting authority in waves. Any other person would be intimidated and humbled by the man before them. But Gaara was not any other person.

Gaara did not like authority, and he especially did not like fathers. He had hated his own right until the man had died, and still afterward. That pathetic bastard, always on his high-and-mighty pedestal, him and his fucking belt… Anyway, Gaara shook his head mentally to clear the unwanted thoughts and tried to muster enough respect for the head of the Hyuugas as he bowed.

"Well then, Hinata, I'd like to have a word alone with your friend."

"H-Hai," She bowed and backed out of the room.

Hinata stood outside the room, waiting. After about thirty seconds, she started to mesh the tips of her index fingers together, a nervous habit. Her father's study was sound-proof, nothing could be heard from inside. Hinata wondered how Gaara was doing. Hiashi demanded to meet personally all of Neji and Hinata's friends before they were allowed to visit regularly.

Half and hour later, the door opened and out came Hiashi and Gaara. Hinata would always wonder but never know what happened in there, but when they came out, Hiashi had a smile on his face and even Gaara was smirking.

"Nice talking to you Sabaku-san," Hyuuga Hiashi seemed pleased.

"Hn," he nodded his head at the man, who turned around and went back inside his study.

"Gaara, what happened in there?" curiosity was burning inside Hinata.

"Your father is a very interesting man." Was all she got.

"Are you serious? Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?" Hinata was practically shaking in her seat when Gaara announced what he intended to do.

"Of course. I'm always serious."

"B-But we have no idea how my father will react! What if… W-wha—" her anxious prattling was cut off by Gaara's lips on hers. The unexpectedness of the gesture caused Hinata to kiss back energetically, winding her hands into his soft red hair. Gaara took her face and cupped it in his hands, his thumb tracing her jaw-line and causing Hinata to shiver.

_Rap, rap._ They broke apart, startled, to see Neji, a slightly disgusted look creeping onto his stoic face. "Uh, ew." He said through the glass and walked away.

Gaara and Hinata's faces turned indifferent and bright red, respectively, as they fell back into their seats and drove the rest of the way down the block to Hinata's house.

Hinata was once again waiting nervously outside her father's study for Gaara. She was starting to panic; it was quiet—too quiet. Even though the soundproofed walls, Hinata had expected to hear shouting, swearing and/or massive crashes. But there was none of that and Hinata was beginning to dread Gaara's pending fate at the hands of a certain over-protective Hyuuga.

Finally, Gaara re-emerged, and Hinata nearly fainted from the relief of seeing him, well, not as a corpse.

"What did he say?" She asked rather breathlessly.

"'I really don't care.'" Wait, WHAT?

Gaara had just asked Hyuuga Hiashi for permission to date his oldest daughter.

And his answer was 'I really don't care'

On that day, the world stopped spinning, communism worked in practice, pigs began to sprout wings and fly, and Disney Channel suddenly became cool.

Every year, Ino and Sakura hold a party on March 21st, the spring solstice. Most of the school was invited, but the less-well-liked tended to stay away. This year, Tenten had (literally) held a knife to their throats until the two called Ino and accepted the invitation, and then (just as literally) dragged Hinata through the mall to find a dress to wear.

Gaara picked Hinata up at her house, just after Neji had gone to get Tenten. When she came out the front door, he nearly fell out of the car, which was very lame and very un-Gaara-ish. She was wearing a pale blue spaghetti-strap dress which came mid thigh. Her hair had been put into a high ponytail on top of her head that cascaded down her neck to fall between her shoulder blades. To Gaara, she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

Seeing Gaara staring, Hinata blushed deep crimson, watching Gaara's shoes as he came around the car to open the door for her. He brushed her hand and she looked up, straight into those pale green eyes. Breaking the connection, her eyes traveled back down to his shoes, noticing his tight black shirt and leather jacket (tight enough to show Hinata that Gaara had _very_ nice abs), black jeans and converse that were less worn out than his usual pair.

They entered the car and Hinata stared either straight ahead or at her sandals the whole time.

At Ino's house the party was already under way. Lights were flashing and tasteless pop music was blaring. Neither of them wanted to dance. Hinata was a klutz with two left feet and Gaara… was just Gaara. Instead, Hinata made a beeline for the punch, with Gaara in tow.

Just as she was about to lift the cup to her lips, Gaara's hand stopped her.

"Wait." He sniffed it. "It's spiked."

After that, Hinata wasn't thirsty anymore.

They wandered a bit, passing writhing forms dancing in clumps, drunken figures bumping into doorways and passing out on couches, couples who _seriously_ needed to get a room, until finally they found someone they knew who was not totally wasted or insane to begin with.

The moment they approached, Sakura latched herself onto Hinata and chattered her ear off, talking about this couple who was doing… well… and that group over there who were smoking something rather fishy. She jabbered on and on until Hinata got a headache.

Politely excusing herself, she found Gaara leaning against a wall in the back of the main party room with Neji, neither speaking, staring at the dance floor without really seeing it. They went outside and stood in the yard. Hinata watched Gaara as the light from the house behind him lit up his red hair and putting all but his eyes in shadow. Tentatively, she reached up and traced his tattoo of the Kanji symbol for love with her fingers.

When her hand fell back to her side, Gaara hardly noticed. He was too busy staring at the way the light from the party lit up Hinata's face, throwing it into sharp relief. He reached out with both hands and traced the outline of her heart-shaped face, her brows, her iridescent eyes and small nose, her full lips just waiting for him to kiss them—and so he did.

It was a sweet kiss, but gradually it deepened and Hinata clung to Gaara's chest in an effort to keep herself upright from the force of it. Gaara broke away and began to kiss her jaw and then her neck, slowly, tenderly, savoring the feel of it.

A crunching of grass and the snapping of a twig brought them back to Earth. "Oh, well this is just precious," said a sarcastic drawl belonging to the slouching genius standing next to the couple. "Troublesome," he grumbled in his bored tone, turning around so that his spiky ponytail was outlined by the light from the house. Before he could get more than a few steps, though, he was mauled by a feminine shadow coming out of seemingly nowhere.

"SHIKAMARU! What the hell do you think you're doing? Get your lazy ass away from here and stop bothering them!"

Her help was not needed, though. Both Gaara and Hinata had had enough of the party and were ready to go home.

In the car on the way back, Hinata and Gaara decided that they didn't really like going to parties. And that was the end of that.

"_What_ did you just say?" Neji loomed dangerously at Naruto, his voice menacingly low.

"He called you an arrogant prick with his head stuck up his ass." Gaara hardly ever offered information, and so everyone turned to him in surprise. Then his words sunk in.

"You. Dickless bastard!" The killer intent coming off Neji was nearly tangible.

"WHAT!" roared the blond. He jumped up, seething. Naruto was usually a happy, optimistic guy, able to take most of the crap people tended to throw at him. But the only thing he couldn't stand, were insults to the size of his masculine parts. He grabbed the pencil sitting on the table next to him and hurled it at Neji, full speed.

Naruto's target held up his hand and caught the projectile between two fingers. He then threw it at Naruto, who dodged and then proceeded to charge at him, knocking over things on his way.

The blond proceeded to attack Neji, who easily dodged and blocked every punch the shorter boy threw as he maneuvered himself around the room, carefully and effortlessly avoiding couches and people alike. Naruto, on the other hand, was much more clumsy in his assault, and soon the living room looked like a war zone—which, in a sense, it was.

Neji jumped sideways to avoid a stray ottoman, while Naruto crashed over it, sprawling upside-down on the other side and knocking over a low table and it's contents. Unluckily for Hinata, she'd chosen that moment to walk past the living room, carrying the herbs she'd been out collecting from her garden. The plants dropped out of her hands and she nearly fainted at the state the room was in.

"W-what is going on here?" She asked in a shaky voice. She would be the one responsible for cleaning that up.

"Nothing whatsoever." Gaara had been watching the whole event with a smirk on his face from contained laughter, and cynical humor shining in his eyes.

"Oh…" Hinata fainted.

Naruto scrambled up from the ground and looked at the girl lying on the ground, then at the herbs next to her. "What's wrong with her, doesn't she like oregano?"

It was a beautiful day. The fierce March weather had begun to turn mild on its way to spring. The sun was shining and the breeze didn't knock you over every time a gust came.

"So, what do you want to do?" She was sitting in Gaara's arms, her back against his chest. His arms wrapped around Hinata's small frame.

"What, are you bored already?" He leaned down to stare into her eyes, and his bangs brushed her eyelids, making pink dust her pale cheeks.

"N-n-no," Hinata stammered, trying to concentrate on her answer and not the gorgeous red of Gaara's hair, lit up and glowing in the sunlight. "I… I just—" All hope for focus was lost to her when he kissed her forehead, then both eyelashes, her nose, and finally brushed against her lips. Gaara chuckled softly as Hinata's heart sped up and her cheeks went from pale rose to crimson.

Hinata did not like being teased, and so in response she twisted her head and kissed the curve of his jawbone, then leaned into his ear and breathed into his ear, "What _shall_ we do today?" And it was her turn to laugh softly as Gaara shivered slightly.

"I have an idea," it was not a good time for this; Temari and Kankuro were home and it wouldn't do for his older siblings to walk in on them… "Let's go." Gaara gently pushed Hinata up off his chest and led her out to the garage.

She threw him a puzzled look when she clumsily caught the object he threw at her and realized what it was. The engine roared to life, he held out his hand and pulled Hinata on behind him. Her hands around his waist, tightened as they lurched forward.

The wind threw her hair back as they sped along the road, out of the neighborhood, out of the town and on to the quiet, wooded, back roads. Her arms felt the smooth texture of his leather jacket and she leaned her head on his shoulder. The two of them, together, she held him, and it felt so peaceful, it felt so _right_, like this could go on forever.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Note: shout out to Skizzy16 for comment. **_

"Wait here," Gaara told Hinata as she got out of the car, "I'll be back in five minutes."

Hinata stood patiently on the curb, pulling her jacket around her to guard against the chilly April wind. It was a surprisingly clear day, for April: bright and sunny. Even the wind wasn't so cold. It was like nature had decided to wish her a happy birthday, too. She shifted on her feet a little, wondering what the surprise was that Gaara had said he had for her.

She thought about the past few weeks and how much had changed in them. Neji's group of friends—it still didn't feel right to call them hers—had all shown different behavior. Sakura had lessened her attempts at trying to get Sasuke, which had created less fights between her and Ino. Ino, as incredible as it seemed, had given up gossiping and now had her sights set on wooing the upperclassmen. Sasuke had come out of his shell a little, and could now be coaxed into uttering one or two word sentences rather than his usual noncommittal grunts. The most surprising change of all, in Hinata's opinion, had been Neji's: he had finally realized that Hinata actually existed.

The sudden inexplicable change in their class' popular group had snowballed into an all-out attitude shift in the whole school. Loners and less-than-cool kids weren't made fun of any more. Bullying in itself was no longer tolerated by most of the school. Except Itachi's gang. The cause of this transformation was not outwardly known, but Hinata suspected that it had been caused by the realization upon the populars' part that these ostracized loners were not different from themselves at all. Therefore, there was no point in gossiping, bullying etc.

Still, even though everything around them had changed, Gaara and Hinata felt the same as ever. Neji and his friends had invited them to sit at their table at lunch, but Hinata and Gaara had declined, claiming that they wanted to spend time together (*wink wink*). In truth, Hinata was too scared to. Gaara didn't like crowds. So they sat outside together, Hinata with her bento box, and Gaara not eating, as usual.

Hinata still stuttered out of nervousness, unable to feel truly accepted. They didn't know her, really, so how could they be her friends? Even with Neji acknowledging her, she still couldn't shake the feeling of worthlessness, no matter how hard she tried. The only person who truly understood her was Gaara. He made her feel wanted, like she was worth something. When they sat in her living room with Neji's friends, the two of them were always on edge; they didn't feel like they belonged. She knew that he wasn't able to **trust others** for his own reasons.

Hinata was so lost in thought that she didn't notice the hooded figure peering out from the alley—looking straight at her. If she had noticed, she could have called out to it, which would have scared it off. If she had noticed, she could have moved to another curb and called Gaara to get her there. If she had noticed, she could have run like hell itself was coming after her. But she didn't notice, she just stood there, watching the little puffy clouds floating by.

Silently, the unknown hooded person approached the oblivious Hinata from behind, their face not visible.

A moment later found Hinata held up against the back wall of the alley, almost unnoticeable from the street. The man (she was sure it was a man) had his forearm across her throat, restricting her air. She started to struggle, and with his other arm, her attacker rapidly proceeded hit her pressure points, causing immense pain all over Hinata's body.

"You're weak, worthless and pathetic, nobody wants you." He continued to strike her, repeating those words, until Hinata was rendered almost immobile from the pain.

Abruptly her mysterious aggressor mashed his mouth against hers in a foul alcohol-tasting contact. Hinata attempted to resist, and her attacker pulled back, causing the hood to slide and revealing his face, the face of Kabuto, Itachi's crony. Hinata didn't have time to be startled by the recognition because with Kabuto's release of her mouth began his pummeling of her body. This time with fists, he hit her repeatedly until Hinata was in a state of pain so severe it was somewhat numb.

"You whore! Nobody loves you… you're unwanted, _**unnecessary**_**, pathetic**."

He leaned in close to her ear, and suddenly her shirt was ripped open, taken off and stuffed in her mouth so as to nullify all potential noise.

Now Kabuto's hands were at her pants, attempting to undo them. Hinata, dazed by the pain of her beating, was vaguely aware of this, and attempted to wrench herself back into her body and move to stop him. But she couldn't. Her body just wouldn't move. Hinata watched as Kabuto unbuttoned and then unzipped her pants with disengaged passiveness. It was as if she was no longer connected to the girl who was getting clobbered in the alley, she couldn't feel anything, couldn't move her limbs, couldn't scream…

And then, suddenly, Kabuto turned away. His lips moved but no sound came out, **no sound reached Hinata's ears, as if she had cotton stuffed in them**. He let go of her and she crumpled unceremoniously to the ground, struggling to stay conscious. From her position on the floor, she couldn't see who it was that had come, but she could feel the killer intent oozing off of her saviour.

Then she was moving, being lifted, but her eyes were closed and somehow Hinata could not get them to open. Something in the back of Hinata's barely-intact consciousness registered that she was no longer in danger. And she went under.


	8. Chapter 8

Hinata woke up, dazed, just after the sun had set. For a moment she wondered what she was doing at Gaara's house. Then she remembered. She started sobbing, and when it turned out to be a painful action, Hinata just cried some more.

When she'd expended all her tears, she sat up and looked around in the evening gloom. She was on Gaara's living room couch, just like she had been only weeks before. Only this time, the house seemed empty, and no lights had been turned on even though it was night.

Starting to get up, very, very slowly, Hinata began to wonder where Gaara was. If she had ended up at his house, that must have meant that Gaara was the one to have saved her. She would have expected him to be there waiting for her to wake up.

Searching the house, Hinata found Gaara in his room. It was nearly pitch black in there, the only light coming from the street outside. Gaara was sitting on the floor in the corner, **sitting** against the wall and staring into space, **looking stiff and restrained, with a thin layer of calm attempting to hide some other emotion underneath. His sea foam eyes were as hard and cold as she'd ever seen them, but there was a bit of animalistic wildness escaping his carefully placed barrier. **

"Gaara?" Hinata called softly. It hurt her to see him like this. At that moment she wanted nothing more than to soften that look in his eyes.

"Gaara?" she called again, a bit louder. When he still didn't respond, she padded over to him and sat down—painfully—next to him. Only when her **bare** skin brushed against his was Gaara startled out of his reverie. He looked at her, and the frosty eyes melted for a moment before freezing over again.

"Gaara… what's wrong?"

"You should leave."

"I…wha-?"

"Go. _Now._ Leave." He frowned at her and pulled her to standing.

Hinata was so _confused_. What was Gaara saying? _What's going on?_

**Gaara knew only that she had to leave, leave before he hurt her, too. But he had no idea how to make her go.** **He needed to protect her, but how could he do that when the one he was protecting her from was himself? The only way to protect her was to hurt her enough to make her leave him. He **then said something that caused him more pain than anything he had ever done before. "I don't want you here. Leave, now."

"B-b-but… I-I…" Hinata could feel the tears pushing behind her eyes, waiting to spill out. He… didn't want her? She couldn't believe it. No, she _wouldn't_ believe it. Hinata would not be pushed away like an unwanted burden. Not again, and definitely not by Gaara. Not this time.

"N-no." Hinata held the tears back, **her voice wavering slightly from the restricted tears, **summoning up every ounce of courage she had. "Not until you give me an explanation, I'm not leaving." She couldn't believe she was doing this. Hinata had never held her ground before. Maybe she shouldn't have. Maybe now Gaara was going to get so angry that nothing would ever be right again. Maybe she'd just made him hate her. Oh, no. She should just leave before everything got worse and hope that Gaara would forgive her later. Hinata was just about to apologize and run for it when Gaara spoke.

"Alright," he said slowly,** his resolve crumbling before the slightly shaking girl standing in front of him,** "I guess you deserve to know the truth." He picked Hinata up and put her on his bed, but Gaara himself retreated to the desk on the other side of the room. He sat on it, curled up and tense.

**Gaara's POV**

**I had to tell her the truth. She would hate me afterwards; she would think I'm a monster. And she had every right to. I wouldn't have told anyone else the truth: I wouldn't have trusted anyone enough. But somehow, the shy, timid, beautiful girl sitting on my bed, looking at me with those mesmerizing pearly eyes… Somehow she managed to slip through my carefully constructed mental walls, and somehow, I trusted her. **

"I lied to you, Hinata. I'm sorry. **What I told you that day after Itachi and those bastards hurt you, was only a partial truth. That guy that pissed me off one day back then, and landed in the hospital, he died from his injuries.** I killed him. I am the monster everyone **says** I am. **And you know what?" I laughed bitterly at the memory, "I didn't care; his life was meaningless to me. All life was meaningless to me, save for my own."**

** I didn't know why I was telling her the rest, it was bad enough she knew this much. Hell, she would have been just fine if I hadn't told her anything at all. There was no need to give her nightmares. But something was compelling me to continue, to unload it all and have her take some of the weight on her thin shoulders. **

** "Then I met my cousin. He was like me, but somehow through the force of his will, he changed himself. He was the only one to ever believe in me. But I refused to accept him. And though his repeated attempts weren't working, I started to grow fond of the annoying fucker." My face darkened as I remembered what happened next, and I could hear my voice lowering into a growl, "Then the baka went and got himself killed, trying to befriend the most dangerous gang in Suna." He wanted to help them, but they didn't want to be helped. That baka. **

"**Seeing his dead body tossed on the ground, I went berserk. Five minutes later, they were all dead. On his memory, I swore never to kill again." **

**Shit, I went ahead and told her all of it. I glanced around my messy room, at the desk chair, at the closet to the shelves, anywhere but at her. I wasn't good at heartfelt confessions. Hell, I wasn't good at heart-anything. **

"W-What about Kabuto?" Damn. I looked at her, expecting to see her cowering on my bed wanting to run for it, but instead, she just seemed concerned and a bit **sad**.

"He's dead." I said flatly, closing my eyes while I waited for her reaction. I really didn't want to see it when the fear and horror finally filled her beautiful pearly eyes.

**Hinata's POV**

**Oh. Well then. That was a lot to take in. Gaara almost never shared like that. I guess he just needed to get it off his shoulders.** It hurt that he'd lied to me, and I wanted to believe what he said wasn't true. Still, he seemed so hurt by those memories that there was nothing else to believe but that Gaara's words were true. Gaara was a killer.

But if Gaara really was a cold-hearted monster, then why had he seemed so distressed at killing that **awful** Kabuto? **Why had he sworn never to kill again?** After all, he'd only killed him to save me, and who knows what would have happened if he hadn't come… Now it was my turn to shudder. No. No matter what kinds of awful things Gaara had done in the past, I still couldn't believe that Gaara was really a monster.

Getting up off from his bed, I surprised myself with my second bold move of the day. I walked over to Gaara sitting on his desk, leaned up, and kissed him. His eyes were closed, and I felt him start before kissing back tentatively.

We broke apart and Gaara opened his eyes to look at me. They were filled with a mix of confusion, admiration and wonder.

"I love you," I said, and I meant it. "You are not a monster. You saved me, and I don't care about your past. But no more lies, promise me."

"I love you too," he murmured, pressing his lips into the top of my long dark hair. "No more lies, ever. I promise." I wrapped my arms around his waist and he put his around my shoulders, and we just stood there in our embrace.


	9. Chapter 9

Field Trip! The whole class was positively buzzing with excitement as they loaded onto the buses in the yellow morning sunlight. It was a beautiful day to take a fun hiatus from the mind-numbingly banal existence that was school. Yet anything pleasant at the moment faded away for Kiba when he looked over to see Hinata climb onto the cheeser—holding Gaara's hand.

What the hell was she doing with that freak? It was true that Kiba occasionally hung out with them in his group, but it was reluctant. They were tolerated mainly because the two had become friends with Tenten (on Hinata's part) and Naruto (who would be friends with a doormat if he thought it had good intentions).

Still, it bothered him to see them together. They had been friends once, but that was a long time ago, and Kiba had… Kiba shook off the thoughts and climbed on the bus as well. But he couldn't escape the peculiar feeling that was beginning to creep into his mind at the sight of Hinata leaning her head against Gaara in their seat. A shadow of a smile flitted across Gaara's cold blank mask, and Kiba's blood boiled.

He sat down next to Naruto, squashing down the random murderous intent that had risen in him as he tried to have a good time (half) listening to the blonde's excited chattering.

There's definitely something different about her, he thought, watching little Hinata boldly lead the imposing redhead around the museum. She was different from the timid, shy little girl who would always give in to avoid any conflict that Kiba had known. This new Hinata had added a small air of confidence to her quiet disposition, and had graduated from the loose sweaters she always wore when she was younger, to a flattering t-shirt and skinny jeans that accentuated her curves in all the right places; her silky, long indigo hair swayed just above her butt.

She flitted from piece to piece, totally engrossed in the art, when Gaara came up behind her and hugged her waist from behind. She turned around and blushed. Even her blushes were different, somehow. Less humiliated. She shrugged off her backpack and dropped it carefully to the floor. She leaned over and began rummaging through it. Her hair fell over her shoulders, creating a soft partial curtain for her face. She tugged it behind her ear with a look of innocent determination and continued her search.

On an impulse, Kiba took a step in her direction, with no intention to move any further. His legs, however, moved entirely on their own, and before he was even aware that his limbs weren't obeying properly, he was standing right there.

"Oh, er—ah, hi Hinata!" He fumbled over the words, unsure.

"Oh, hi Kiba." She seemed mildly surprised but otherwise unfazed. She was spending too much time with that emotionless asshole. Aforementioned emotionless asshole walked up to stand protectively by Hinata.

He gave Gaara a cold stare and was given the opportunity to gaze into eyes so cold they couldn't have been humanly possible. Kiba broke the contact before the other boy started to radiate the killer intent that he knew was coming—he'd seen kids on the wrestling team get taken down by it alone.

After a few moments of awkward tension, an oblivious Hinata spoke up in a dismayed voice, "Oh, no! I left my notebook in the other gallery."

Gaara immediately turned and walked back the way they had come without a word. No words were necessary, everyone knew where he was going.

"So, er—Hinata… you look different today." He finished lamely. She looked up at him with those mesmerizing pearly eyes. His mind was wandering and his palms began to sweat.

"Uh, thanks?" Her confused expression was pretty cute, thought Kiba. Wait, what was he thinking? No. It wasn't like that, this was _Hinata_ for God'ssake! He couldn't, he wouldn't, he didn't want to. But it seems his body wasn't obeying his mind today. Without realizing he was doing it, Kiba had taken Hinata's face in his hands, pulling her toward him. And now he leaned down and their lips were touching, Kiba kissing her with far more passion than he would have ever expected, and Hinata too surprised to react either way.

There was a large _thunk_, and Kiba pulled back, horrified and confused. His mind was racing, unable to form coherent thoughts. _What had he just done?_ Before he could sort out his jumbled consciousness, there was Gaara, standing a few feet away with Hinata's backpack on the ground by his feet, glaring at him with eyes so cold and menacing it made Kiba shiver. The redhead was emanating killer intent and malice so thick it caused anyone else in the gallery to make a break for it.

Kiba backed away, nervous. He'd never actually seen the other boy fight, but from what he'd heard from others and the condition those who'd fought him usually ended up in, it was not something he wanted to experience.

Gaara came towards him, his aura so deadly Kiba tripped and ended up on his butt, Gaara looming above him. Kiba was starting to panic. This guy… he was no joke. This was the aura of a killer. For all his tough exterior, Kiba hardly ever actually harmed others. But Gaara… he'd clearly killed before. No other person could emit killer intent that black. This was the killer intent of a monster.

The teen lifted Kiba up by the front of his shirt. Despite his small frame, he was extremely strong. He peered into Kiba with those pale green eyes—every drop of hatred, every last bit of resentment and malice, was concentrated in those eyes. They looked into Kiba, into every corner of his soul, bearing down on him with vicious bloodlust until the entirety of the dog-lover's mind was overcome by it, and all he was aware of was the hatred, the bloodlust and a primal fear he knew was his own.

Just as Gaara coiled his fist back to strike him, a faint call was heard, desperate and pleading. Gaara dropped his fist—and Kiba—and turned his back to the boy, who crumpled to the ground in a shaking, sweaty, messy heap. There was complete silence for some time, and Kiba was only able to see the wall in front of him. His mind was paralyzed from Gaara's "attack", he couldn't think or feel anything. His battered mind was slipping into bliss emptiness, he wasn't aware on a conscious level of the hands that gently placed him on a stretcher and he fell into the lovely quietness that was his subconscious.

Gaara looked over at the boy crumpled in a heap on the floor. He had fainted. Tsk, weakling.

The killer intent and bloodlust had faded from the gallery, but a hint of malice and fear still hung in the air as the museum's security came and escorted the indifferent Gaara to the museum's (never before used) detainment room. Gaara shrugged mentally and molded his face into its stoic mask, the sidelong fearful glances his escorts were giving him not going unnoticed. He blinked, Gaara reached into his pocket and pressed play on his iPod, pulling the headphones out of his hood, unfazed but slightly amused at the guards' failing attempts to be cool and collected. They were being far too obvious in their intended 'unnoticed' glances at the redhead. He chuckled quietly, sounding quite insane to the guards, some of whom jumped at the sound and started to fearfully finger their weapons as they led him to the basement of the museum…


	10. Chapter 10

Gaara sat at a desk in the small white room in the basement of the museum, staring at the door with a carefully tailored blank expression on his face and his elbows propped up on the table. He was currently waiting for the museum guards to return from… wherever it was they said they were going. Gaara hadn't been paying attention, nor did he care. For all his calm demeanor, on the inside he was in a messy, raging turmoil of emotion.

Oh _shit_, what had he done? This was definitely the last straw. She had somehow miraculously forgiven him for what had happened with Kabuto, but there was definitely no way she would give him another chance. Kabuto had been assaulting her, but Kiba… Kiba had once been her friend. Maybe they weren't friends now, but Hinata didn't seem to harbor any harsh feelings towards the boy.

Where had that anger come from, anyway? One moment he was retrieving Hinata's bag, and the next Kiba was in a pile on the floor. He hadn't felt that cold rage in a long time. Not since… And the worst part was that she hadn't pushed him away, almost like she'd _wanted_ it. Gaara gave a low growl, surprising himself with the menace in it. Since when had he cared about another person, anyway? Never, that was when. But then why did the look of horror in her eyes haunt him so?

He heard the guards approach the room and unlock the door. They pushed it open and inside came Gaara's chaperone, Kurenai, and a small man with a grave appearance. Gaara was mildly surprised at how somber the two looked—he hadn't done anything _that_ bad to the boy. In fact he had barely touched him. The wimp should be fine in a couple of weeks.

"Sabaku-san," Kurenai spoke and Gaara placed his cold eyes on her. She shuddered slightly, almost imperceptibly, but he still noticed. He blinked in acknowledgement, and she continued.

"You have committed a serious offense, Sabaku-san. This cannot go unpunished. Therefore—"

Damn, he'd forgotten she was also the vice-principal. Ah, well here comes his sentence.

"—You will be receiving ten school days' out-of-school suspension, which will be spent cleaning up this museum during school hours. Yowamushi-san here will be in charge of your supervision."

Gaara turned his head (which was being supported by his interlaced fingers) to gaze at the pathetic little figure. He was short bespectacled man, slightly round in shape with a balding head of mousy brown hair. Yowamushi looked at the dark face of the teenager and seriously thought of turning around and running back upstairs.

"H-hello Sabaku-san, I am the museum's chief director. I hope we can make this as quick and painless as possible," _For both of us_. He added silently.

"Hn."

That was all the reply he needed. A thoroughly shaken museum director hastily exited the small room.

"I hope you take this as a chance to reflect upon what you have done." Said Kurenai, leaving the door open for Gaara to leave.

_Oh I will,_ _and I won't ever give Hinata another reason to hate me again._ He swore to himself. He couldn't deny it—he truly, deeply cared for her, and he would never _ever_ give her a reason to look that distraught again.

It was Wednesday, almost halfway through Gaara's torture. The torture wasn't having to spend his days in a stuffy museum filled with wary visitors and even more wary employees. No, the torture was not being able to see Hinata. It was driving him crazy. He hadn't seen or spoken to her since that day. He didn't have the nerve to go directly to her house, and he couldn't see her otherwise without being in school.

His mind would not give him a break, either. He couldn't stop thinking about Hinata, how she would surely hate him this time. There was nothing he could do but wait out the next six days and try to see her at school.

It was 3:30, school was out and he could leave the hated museum. Walking right out the door and ignoring the fearful glances he was receiving, Gaara hopped on his motorcycle and drove home to blast his ears with music.

Monday afternoon. He'd skipped on Friday and sulked all weekend, but now he was back in school and sitting in his usual seat in the back of the class, waiting for the last bell to ring.

Not thirty seconds after it had rung, the classroom was deserted but for two people. Hinata was standing at her desk in the front of the room, packing very slowly. Gaara sat at his desk, not moving. He didn't like crowds, so he always waited for everyone to leave the halls before going home. There was no need for him to pack up: he hadn't exactly _unpacked_ anything to begin with.

Out of nowhere, Gaara was standing behind her; she hadn't even noticed him get up. Hinata jumped, but continued packing. Her head was down, her hair falling over her face so he couldn't see her expression.

"Hinata," no response. She continued packing as if he wasn't there.

"Hinata, I-I…" He broke off unsure as his voice cracked. She whirled around, stinging him with her long hair as it came flying around. She looked up at him fiercely. There were tears in her eyes.

"You what? You're _sorry_?" She hissed quietly, so her voice wouldn't waver. "You didn't _mean_ it? Give me a break, Gaara. I though you were different. I forgave you because you said you'd _changed_. How could you?"

He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out, so he closed it again. Gaara looked down at her with sad, pleading eyes. It hurt, he wished she could forgive him. But that was not happening—even he knew that.

"Kiba… he—he's _di-different_, now." Her voice cracked, and the tears threatened to spill. "You-you _broke_ him; he's ch-cha-nged." She fought to keep her voice normal, but it was coming out thick and choked up. A single tear started to slide down her pale cheek. Hinata grabbed her bag and ran out of the classroom: that first tear had been the harbinger of a flood that was now escaping her eyes as she dashed down the block.

Gaara stood there, feeling somewhat numb. He then turned and walked out of the school, his eyes once again green stones in a blank mask.

The sun was almost completely down. The air had gained a harsh nighttime chill. The bitter dusk found a certain pale redhead sitting on his roof, staring into nothingness.

Temari poked her head out his bedroom window.

"Gaara," no response. "Gaara." She stared at her younger brother for a moment before climbing out the window and crouching down next to him.

"GAARA!" his lack of reaction to the shouting in his ear infuriated the blonde. She took out her favorite accessory—a steel-edged fan—and smacked him on the head with it. Hard.

He turned to the oldest of the Suna siblings, looking at her blankly. Temari opened her mouth to begin upbraiding him, but then stopped when she noticed the look in his eyes. They hadn't looked that bleak in a long time. Not since… The only explanation would be that someone had hurt him. But nobody hurt Gaara—no-one ever got close enough for him to care. Except… Hinata.

Temari Sabaku certainly lived up to her reputation of being an extremely sharp woman. Problem identified: commence solution procedure.

"Oi, Gaara! What's wrong? You're totally spaced out." With her youngest brother, the sympathetic approach tended to only make him mad.

"Hn." He looked away, down at the dark street. Temari could see that she wasn't going to get an answer from him this way, so she pulled out her backup plan.

"Look what I've got here," she held up her brother's iPod and dangled it over the edge of the roof.

Gaara's eyes widened as Temari's new tactic finally got a response from him. "Nooo," he said softly, his eyes glued to the little machine.

"If you don't tell me what happened between you and Hinata, Mr. iPod gets a make out session with the sidewalk." She smirked smugly, knowing that she'd won the moment Gaara's music came into play. The iPod was Gaara's crutch; he relied on it like it was his salvation.

"Uhmlyskdn," he mumbled, lowering his chin in defeat.

"What was that?"

"I really screwed up." At this angle, his red bangs covered his eyes, but Temari could tell he was deeply saddened by the confession.

Temari sat down next to him on the roof, pulling her sweater around her in the frigid night. She handed him back the iPod, which he clutched tightly, like a lifeline. "Tell me, what happened?"

"Got jealous, lost control. She hates me now." Temari resisted the urge to hug him—he did not like most forms of physical contact. For all his screwy past and personal issues, the hurt in his voice showed how deeply he'd come to care about the Hyuuga girl. Temari figured that there were about three people who could cause Gaara pain, and two of them were his siblings.

She could see he was trying so hard for that girl—she'd saved him from himself. Even Kankuro and Temari were getting along better with him now that he didn't sulk around emanating killer intent and glowering at anyone who came within three feet of him.

"You should just give her some time. Wait a week or so, then go apologize to her. Girls like flowers and chocolate, get her some. And it can't hurt to attempt to patch things up with whoever you scared the shit out of." Temari grinned inwardly at that thought. Whatever her little brother was, he wasn't helpless.

Gaara nodded and the corner of his mouth gave a little twitch—the closest to a smile he got. The redhead then stuck his earphones in and lay back on the roof, emotional lyrics combined with energetic rock rhythms accompanying him as he gazed up at the moon surrounded by a thousand little winking pinpoints of light.

Temari took the clear signal to leave and crawled back into the warmth of the house. She whacked Kankuro with her fan as she passed by his room and saw what he was looking at. The blonde then made her way to the phone, dialed a number she knew by heart, and waited for the arrival of the Chinese take-in that was Gaara's favorite.

Hinata Hyuuga lay on her bed with the lights out and the curtains open, staring up at the moon that bathed her room in its pale silver light. Her iPod lay next to her, filling her ears with a slow, heartbroken melody. She mouthed the words along with the singer, wiping away a few stray tears that had slipped out from her tired eyes.


	11. Chapter 11

A loud blaring noise cut right into a certain Hyuuga heiress' rest, pulling her out of the dream she'd been having. She untangled herself from the bed sheets just enough for a pale, thin arm to reach out and smash into the "off" button on the offending alarm clock.

Hinata groaned, turning over and squinting at the slivers of dawn peeking through the lavender curtains. Her bed was so soft, inviting her to simply roll over and snuggle back into the warmth until a more decent hour of morning. But, remembering that it was in fact a school day, Hinata sighed resigned herself to the fact that she was going to have to get up. Mustering every ounce of willpower manageable at six in the morning, she pulled herself up and out of bed.

She went through her daily routine, carefully keeping her thoughts from straying and focusing on the simple tasks. Brush teeth, up, down, up, down, rinse. When she was done, Hinata took her bag and made her way down to kitchen.

It was while she was about to pour herself cereal that her concentration slipped a little—she put the box down and bit her tongue to fight off the impending tears.

She'd tried so hard over the past week, keeping herself strong during the day, crying herself to sleep at night. Even though her heart was in a million pieces, she'd tried to forget him—but her mind wouldn't obey her, and she continued to torture herself with the same circling thoughts.

How could he? After everything, she'd still accepted him, still trusted him; she had truly believed he wasn't a monster. But then he'd gone and hurt her friend—he'd hurt Kiba. It didn't matter that they hadn't been as close in the last few years. Hinata had long since forgiven the dog-lover for abandoning her along with the others.

Gaara had said he'd changed, said he could control himself now. Ha! Some control, Kiba hadn't meant any harm, not really. Even Hinata could tell it had been an accident—purely unintentional. And Gaara didn't even think he'd done anything wrong!

The worst part was, she still wanted to forgive him. Hinata still wanted to believe he wasn't a monster. She wanted to believe he really did care about her, and had been trying to protect her. How pathetic was she? No, she wouldn't allow herself to be that weak. This time, she couldn't forgive him, no matter how much it hurt her.

With this shaky resolve, Hinata put the un-poured cereal back into the cabinet and walked out onto the sidewalk in the direction of school.

She sat in her old seat in the front of the room, it just so happened to be the furthest seat from him. Hinata could feel his eyes on her, burning into the back of her neck, yet she still refused to look at him.

After their confrontation the previous Monday, she figured he'd gotten the message and would leave her alone. Apparently not, she thought as the bell rang and Gaara was suddenly behind her, startling her.

"Hinata," he began softly, obviously about to try and explain himself, but she pretended she hadn't noticed and walked away.

Hinata was standing at her locker, about to retrieve her lunch. Gaara had made attempts to talk to her after every class they had together, but Hinata wasn't interested in what he had to say—he'd done enough damage. She spun the dial for the third time and a slip of paper flew out as she opened the door. Picking it up, it read:

_Hinata, please let me talk to you, I am sorry and I want to explain._

She frowned and crumpled it up, letting the paper fall to the floor.

Gaara would be discouraged, and Hinata was becoming slightly frustrated at his refusal to give up and let her be. They both knew he was no good with words (exhibit A: the last time he tried to explain himself, a week before).

It was the end of the day and as Hinata pulled open the door of her locker she was showered in slips of paper, all with one word written on them: _Please_. On the inside of the door a piece of paper was taped; a note from Gaara written in his thin scrawl, telling her to meet him at the tree in front of his house after school to talk, but if she chose not to he would understand and never bother her again.

She chuckled slightly at the childishness of the please-papers, but hid it behind a mask of annoyance and a small cough. She gathered her things, not even bothering to wonder how he'd gotten into her locker.

As Hinata pondered the note, her resolve began to weaken: she might as well go, but that didn't mean she'd forgiven him.

Gaara was waiting in the tree, about halfway up, when Hinata approached it.

"You came," he said, his mask trying to hide his obvious relief, and failing.

She put down her bag and sat on it, arms crossed tightly, waiting.

He jumped down and sat across from her on the ground, their eyes at the same level. "Hinata," he began, looking down at his hands, "Hinata, I-I am so sorry. I don't expect you to forgive me—I don't have any justification for my actions. I didn't mean to hurt him, I just, when I saw him, y-you…" he trailed off, "I want to make things better."

He reached behind him for a moment, then pulled out a small bouquet of little purple flowers. He put them in her lap, and she noticed they emitted a sweet clean scent.

"Hinata," he continued, wrestling with the words he never could master, "I… I really like you—no, I love you. Please forgive me, I will do anything to make this right." He finished somewhat lamely, looking up at her.

Hinata had never seen him so awkward, so tentative. She could tell how hard he was trying, and he seemed so sincere… It took every ounce of self-control she had not to hug him and say everything was okay now. How could she forgive him?

How could she not?

Hinata sat there, trying to fight through the turmoil of conflicting emotions. Without realizing, she reached out, pushed back Gaara's red bangs and began tracing the Kanji symbol for love that was tattooed on his pale forehead. After a moment something brought her attention back; she realized what she was doing and pulled her hand back quickly, blushing. Hinata looked down at the object in her lap: it was a box of chocolates.

She gave a small smile; there was no way Gaara could have come up with all of this on his own. Temari must have helped him. And if he had been desperate enough to ask his wild older sister for help, then the quiet redhead was undeniably sincere.

He was looking at her, mask back in place, but his eyes were uncertain. She'd never seen Gaara so vulnerable, the cold, expressionless features barely enclosing the humanity within. Hinata though how cute he looked when he was unsure. She couldn't decide which was more unusual: Gaara looking cute or Gaara looking unsure.

Hinata nodded, giving him forgiveness. He cracked a rare smile, pulling her close to him. She let him, feeling his embrace enclose her. Hinata knew that now Gaara was back in her life and she would take whatever fate threw at her. A tear slid down her cheek as she fully realized just how much she'd missed him.


	12. Chapter 12

I was lying on my bed, watching contently as the moon began its ascent into the sky. Gaara was being more protective than usual, hardly leaving my side between classes and going to sleep. Not that I minded—it was just a little unusual for him.

It was Friday night. Temari had invited us over for dinner, which turned into charcoal and I ended up making the food. It was a good effort on Temari's part: she managed to make it through the first half of the cooking process before igniting everything. I had a hunch that the Sabakus invited me over just to have my cooking.

They were a quirky, awkward little family, I thought, recalling how Kankuro had to be dragged out of his room by his shirt by Temari and Gaara—I'd managed to catch a glimpse of his room for the first time, finding a TV and colossal game system, and a few pictures that have ruined my innocence. My lips twisted into a half-smile at the memory of Temari, grinning sheepishly at us in her pink apron when we all rushed in at the smell of smoke… the memory of Kankuro trying to poke fun at Gaara, the younger boy simply sitting there like he was made of marble and Temari shouting at the both of them for being "freaking troublesome morons" (I think a bit of her boyfriend, Shikamaru, has rubbed off on her).

If he'd been any less, well, _Gaara_-ish, he would have been apologizing repeatedly for the weirdness of his family. But, alas, the only response I got from him was a block away from my house, when he leaned in with his hand on my upper arm and connected his lips with mine. I cupped both of his cheeks, and a moment later, the connection was broken and he was walking towards my house, I only a step behind him.

Gaara had said goodnight and so I found myself in my room in the dark, daydreaming in the moonlight. Suddenly, a soft knock came at the glass next to me. I looked out and nearly fell backwards off my bed at the sight of Gaara crouched on a tree branch in front of my second-story window.

Quickly, I opened it and he crawled in. "Let's go," the statement didn't warrant any questions or hesitation.

Since I wasn't capable of climbing through windows and trees and the like (seriously, what was with him and those trees?), so we tiptoed through the house as quietly as we could.

When I climbed onto the back of his motorcycle—which had been parked a few blocks away—I finally asked where we were going.

"It's a surprise," was all the answer I got. Still, I felt the familiar jolt as Gaara hit the gas and we began to speed down the street, combined with the thrill of sneaking out. I loved surprises; the allure of the unknown and the possibility that anything can happen.

We came to a stop at the entrance to the park, and treaded on the silver grass until land ended and water began. We were at the lake that the park had been built next to, on the other side of town.

Gaara, it seemed, was feeling unusually bold as he took my hand and led me to the edge of the small dock. He sat down, legs dangling out over the water, and I followed suit.

The moon was right over the lake, almost at the top of the sky. Its pale white light glistened on the lake, pronouncing every ripple in the surface.

"It's beautiful," said I.

Gaara merely nodded. He was staring out over water with a distant expression in his eye.

**Gaara POV**

I watched the motion of the water undulate and glisten. I had found this spot a little while ago during one of my insomnia-induced wanderings. I was glad I had someone to show it to.

Hinata's thigh was almost touching mine—so close I could feel her body's heat. I looked over at her, her indigo hair was reflecting brightly and her face was glowing. Hinata turned to me and my breath caught at the sight of her beautiful iridescent orbs that were the exact same hue as the bright satellite above us.

I leaned in a little and a few strands of hair fell into my eyes. She reached up and pushed them back tenderly. Then, my lips were on hers and her outstretched hand fell to her lap. My one hand was on the back of her neck, supporting her head, while my other had found its way to the small of her back; she arched her back a little at my touch, probably out of ticklishness. Her fingers wove into my hair. She fisted her hands into my red locks and the kiss deepened. I was absorbed in her scent, in the feel of her. Then she ran out of breath and we broke apart, breathing heavily. I held her in my arms, and we could have stayed like that forever.

She was looking at me with a strange expression, one that my muddled mind couldn't read. She then lay back on the dock and gazed up at the white sphere. I joined her, placing my hands behind my head, looking completely carefree despite my whirring emotions.

After some time, I noticed Hinata had fallen asleep. I picked her up and carried her towards the park entrance. The motion of my walking woke her, and as we reached the entrance I let Hinata down and handed her her helmet.

As we drove back through the silent streets I was acutely aware of her warm arms around my waist, and her head that sometimes drooped on my shoulder.

**Hinata POV**

Gaara parked his ride on the same block as before. I climbed off and we started down the block. As I was unaccustomed to staying up all night, I was really drowsy and my mind was groggy.

We were walking really close to each other, and so, by instinct, I took his hand. To my pleasure, he didn't pull it back. When we reached my house I unlocked the door and we crept back up into my room.

Gaara and I stood there for a moment, neither daring to speak for fear of waking the other members of the Hyuuga household. A huge, irrepressible, deep sleep yawn racked my body. Being the time of night it was, I was totally unprepared for the kiss Gaara planted on my yawning mouth, stopping it completely. I was so surprised that I stumbled and tripped over something in the near-darkness, pulling at Gaara's shirt for support—landing on my back on the bed, with Gaara leaning over me.

His crimson hair was bathed in the silver moonlight, making it shine almost purple. I lost myself in his beautiful sea-foam eyes.

He bent down, gave me a chaste peck on the cheek, and crawled out the window. I sat up and watched Gaara as my boyfriend hopped down from the tree like he was a ninja, and rounded the corner out of sight.


	13. Chapter 13

I walked down the hall to my locker to see that Gaara was already there. Frowning in concentration, I turned the dial, and clicked it open. I was still tired from our little escapade two nights before. I seriously didn't understand how Gaara could stay up every night; even one night had me worn out for days.

"Y-you know, you don't h-have to guard me all the time," I told him playfully, "I'll b-be just fine o-on my own for, l-like, three minutes."

"But I like to be with you," he said in that way that made me want to giggle.

I slung my bag over my shoulder and shut the locker door. We turned and walked out the door and took a left towards home. Today we were going to Gaara's.

**Narrative POV**

The two teens sat in Gaara's room: Hinata on the floor, puzzling over some homework, and Gaara curled up on his desk chair, eyes closed and iPod blaring.

After some time Hinata looked up, "Gaara, why don't we put that on the speakers?" He knew what she meant immediately, ripping out the headphone plug and tossing the iPod to Hinata.

She fumbled to catch it, but managed to finally secure it cradled between her arms and torso. Hinata went over to the speakers and bent down to find the plug-in. Her hand brushed against a piece of paper, crumpled and thrown almost behind Gaara's speakers. She hesitated a moment, then opened it up:

_Keep an eye on that angel of yours, or someone might come and knock her around._

What was that supposed to mean? She voiced her question.

"Gaara, what's this?"

Gaara turned to look at the paper. Unnoticed, his grip on the arm of the chair tightened.

"It's nothing, just a quote from class."

Not quite fully satisfied, Hinata decided to drop the subject. She put the music on and followed a few beats tapping her pencil on her homework before continuing her studies.

Hinata was headed towards Gaara's house for the start of their usual Saturdays. As she passed a side-alley not far from her destination she heard voices in what sounded like aggressive tones. She got closer and hid behind the corner of the alley to hear what they were saying.

"Sabaku, it would be unwise to ignore what I'm trying to tell you." The voice was familiar. Who did it belong to?

Apparently there was no reply because the same voice spoke in a drawling tone.

"Hey, didn't you get my note? I went out of my way to get it to you." She knew that sarcastic, monotone voice… it was Itachi's!

"Hn, it was charming." Gaara… Why was Gaara talking to Itachi?

Hinata leaned in over the corner just enough to see what was happening. Itachi and Gaara were standing less than an arm's length apart in the dim back of the dead-end alley.

"Sabaku, I'd watch myself if I were you. If you cause any more trouble for us, we'll make life hell for your little angel. We haven't forgotten about Kabuto." In the dim light Hinata could see the small sneer plastered on Itachi's usually stoic face.

Gaara growled, a low, animalistic, guttural sound. "Don't you _dare_ threaten her, _Uchiha_, or I'll tear you apart."

Who could they have been talking about? Gaara didn't know any girls besides Temari, who was not likely to take any kind of Itachi's bullshit as it was. Then it hit her. They were talking about _her_. Hinata felt a small shiver run down her back at the realization, and bit her bottom lip.

"Like I said," finished Itachi, "Watch yourself, Sabaku." He made to spit in Gaara's face, but Gaara dodged the flying saliva and was suddenly behind the older boy, aggressive stance ready.

Hinata blinked a couple of times, startled. Itachi, however, seemed unaffected. He gave his own 'Hn' and swept out of the alley. Hinata shrank back as he exited, but Itachi didn't seem to notice her.

Gaara, though, did.

"How long were you there?"

"A while," she admitted.

"So you heard?"

Hinata nodded. She was starting to get nervous. Gaara was just standing there, watching her. After a few moments of fidgeting under his gaze, Hinata looked up from her shoes and the two made their way to Gaara's house in silence.

In the safety of Gaara's bedroom, Hinata sat on his bed and meshed the tips of her two index fingers together. It was a nervous habit she hadn't resorted to in a while. Almost as long as she'd become close to Gaara, as it were.

"Hinata," he came over and sat on his bed next to her. She moved so that she was pretty much on his lap, leaning against his chest, her head resting back on his shoulder.

"Hinata, I will always protect you. I won't ever let them hurt you again, I promise." He wrapped his arms around hers, which were in her lap.

"Don't let his threats affect you," he whispered in her ear, "be strong, I know you are. We won't let him win."

Hinata felt safe lying there in Gaara's arms, like nothing could hurt her. She didn't want to let Itachi win. She didn't want to let him and his cronies push her around and stomp on her anymore.

But was she strong enough? Gaara was strong; he never let anything affect him. He was nearly invulnerable. Hinata wished she could be as strong as Gaara. Maybe then she would be able to fight her bullies.

She yearned for that inner strength that would tell Itachi to back off or else. But could she really do it? Hinata couldn't even stand up to her eleven-year-old sister, Hanabi, let alone Neji or the kids at school. No. She thought, I will not let them push me around any longer. I will become strong…

Gaara looked down at the girl who had fallen asleep in his arms. He saw the resolution etched across her delicate features, and the solemn boy allowed his lips to be graced with a rare smile.


	14. Chapter 14

Gaara tries to apologize to Kiba..

Note: I want to thank Cephisco for the amazing review of chapter 11 that I forgot to add into my note at that time… and I haven't forgotten about all of you other reviewers, you all make my day!

The noise level in the crowded hallway went from loud chatter to a stream of whispers as Gaara stepped into it with Hinata, who, as a reaction to the unwanted attention, cowered meekly behind the redhead's toned back. She felt the burn of many curious, and some hostile, stares as Gaara led her to her locker, and then to class.

During class, with the absence of Gaara, the stares became much less oppressive and more curious, and even those were dropped once the teacher began her lesson.

The many eyes, however, followed Gaara around all day, even through classes, and since Gaara would hardly let Hinata out of his sight, they followed Hinata around most of the day, too.

Hinata grew increasingly uncomfortable under the gazes, hiding behind Gaara and for once feeling somewhat comforted by his extreme reluctance to leave her alone.

At lunch, Hinata followed behind Gaara as they entered the cafeteria, bento box in hand. She figured they would be going through the noisy room to the doors that would lead outside, as per usual. However, Gaara made a sudden swerve in the middle of their usual beeline across the room, which landed them right at the table at which sat Neji, Naruto, Ino, Sakura, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Tenten and _Kiba_. This could not go well; what was Gaara _thinking?_

Said anti-social redhead simply stood there until the table's occupants noticed him and, one by one, looked up at him apprehensively. Gaara, however, gave no reaction until, finally, Kiba lifted his head from his food and turned to glare at Gaara.

They all watched him expectantly; Gaara did not do things without a reason, especially things that were out of the norm. He cleared his throat somewhat awkwardly, as Gaara was unaccustomed to speaking to people who were not relatives or Hinata.

"I-er-that is…" He seemed unsure how to say what he obviously needed to get out, when he blurted "I came to give my apology to Kiba, for my actions in the museum. I am sorry."

Every single person in earshot (which, due to Gaara's soft voice, was basically just the table's occupants and Hinata) stared at him for a moment. Then Kiba simply turned back to his food without saying a word.

It was Naruto who spoke for the dog-lover, his usual sunny grin had slipped off of his face, and he was now gazing at the redhead with as cold a look as he could muster. "He doesn't forgive you. Don't expect him to any time soon—or ever, for that matter."

Gaara nodded and turned away towards the outside doors. Hinata gave the group one last glance, catching Neji's eye. It held suspicion and warning. She blinked a couple times and followed after Gaara.

Hinata was walking back from the library to meet Gaara, who was devoted to his practice of ignoring any contact anyone attempted to make with him (including the slightly unnerved teacher's), when she bumped into a tall figure standing in the hallway.

Silly Hinata, you're such a klutz, she thought to herself. That was before she looked up and saw just whom it was she had collided into. Itachi. Hinata gave a squeak of surprise and fear, and dropped the binder she'd been holding.

Aforementioned senior turned and looked down at her from under the hood of his black-with-red-clouds sweatshirt. His eyes narrowed slightly in recognition, and as he spoke the black orbs filled with maliciousness and something border-lining glee.

"Watch yourself, little angel," he drawled silkily, "we wouldn't want anything _bad_ to happen to you. There's a lot of dangerous people around here who would try to hurt you."

As he spoke, Itachi had been inching closer and closer to Hinata, and by the time he had finished, he was looming over her with the space between them almost nonexistent.

Itachi leaned down so that he could bore right into her pearly eyes. A shiver went down Hinata's back at those cold, dead eyes. At his whispered words of "careful, now" she gave a soft 'eep' and ducked to pick up her binder, while Itachi turned away and walked down the hallway, chuckling menacingly to himself.

When she got back to Gaara, Hinata had no need to explain the events that had transpired to Gaara; he could read it all in her eyes. Hinata inwardly cursed her inability to mask her all-telling eyes. Now Gaara would be even more worried. Hinata waited for his reaction, which would be along the lines of a growl and a warning, followed by his (and by extension, their) immediate departure from school for the day.

Instead, Gaara pulled her down into the seat next to him, wrapping his arms around her, and whispered to her that she was not to let 'that bastard' control her through fear—she was stronger than that.

Hianta was taken aback by the extremely rare public display of affection. Gaara did not accept so much as hand-holding in any situation where another person was present. In fact, Hinata was the only person he willingly let touch him (although, sometimes Temari was reluctantly admitted into this category as well).

After a few moments, Gaara fell silent, and the two sat for the rest of last period enjoying the silence of teenagers (not) studying.

…**~…**

After Hinata came in during last period with shaking hands and fearful eyes, Gaara knew she had had an encounter with Itachi. The meek, fragile girl was getting pushed around by the (so-called, Gaara was afraid of nothing) intimidating senior. Itachi would make his move, and soon, and Hinata would have only Gaara to protect her. And if that scum happened to act while Gaara wasn't around…

No. Gaara had made up his mind, and hardened his resolve. He would not let that happen, and therefore something had to be done, now. And so the youngest Sabaku sibling formulated a plan.


	15. Chapter 15

A foot stuck out in the hallway, catching a certain blue-haired Hyuuga and sending her face first to give the floor a nice big hug. Hinata pulled herself up and glared through her blush at the snickering idiots in the hallway.

She was _soo_ not in the mood.

Usually she would simply blush and walk away, head down, ignoring the idiot. It wasn't worth starting anything over, especially since reacting would mean drawing even _more_ attention towards her.

Hinata glared, walking away, thoughts buzzing in her mind—she stopped short suddenly at the end of the hallway. One though in particular had occurred to her and refused to go away: revenge. She wanted to get back at the unfortunate moron who had crossed her.

WOAH, wait a second. Where had that come from? Hyuuga Hinata didn't hold grudges; she let bad things roll off her back like the tears she shed almost every night.

Hinata, who had started walking again amidst her musings, stopped short again. That was one_ twisted_ though you just had there, missy, she thought to herself. Confused, and a little uneasy, she figured there was only one person who could help her sort this out, and resolved to pay said person a visit the moment school let out.

Neji glared at the thin back of his oldest cousin across the room, where she sat alone. He was still pissed off about the incident her _boyfriend_—he nearly snarled at the word, but Hyuugas do not _snarl_—had caused. He'd always known that boy was bad news, and didn't want his timid cousin associating with him. As much as it pained his pride to admit, he did care about her, if only a little (can you say 'under exaggerating' much?), and didn't want her to get hurt.

"Whacha staring at?" Tenten bounced out of her seat and tackled him and his chair affectionately from behind. She followed his gaze to the midnight blue head. "Wonder what she's thinking?" The bun-haired girl wondered out loud, before abruptly straightening up and bounding over to where the quiet girl sat.

"Yo!" The brunette gave a big grin. Hinata, though, didn't even aknowledge the other girl's presence. None of Neji's friends ever talked to her, much less his _girlfriend_. What did they want with her?

"'Sup, sunshine?" Tenten moved around the desk and stuck her face right in front of Hinata's, forcing her to look up, slightly annoyed.

Hinata sighed. "What do you want, Tenten?"

"Nothing, really, you had a weird expression on your face, so I came to say hi."

The blue-haired girl cursed herself for letting her Hyuuga-emotional-mask slip. She was suspicious of the bun-haired girl's sudden interest in her—it was probably a bet, Tenten was always getting herself into stupid and/or dangerous bets. The girl was nuts, but somehow she never lost, ever, a fact Hinata had gleaned from her old friend Shino's then-huge crush on the lunatic standing before her. Still, Hinata decided to humor her… kind of.

"Oh, w-well I was just plotting my m-most recent revenge," she gave something between a smirk and a half-smile.

"It's always the quiet ones, isn't it…?" Tenten looked serious for a moment, before cracking a mad grin. "We should talk later, Hina; together we can rule the world!" She then bounced away, cackling to herself, and Hinata decided that the girl was indubitably insane.

She glanced out of the corner of her eye back at where Tenten was now sitting with her friends, who were giving her weird, surprised looks. Huh, maybe it wasn't a bet, after all…

The door opened, and Hinata dropped her bag with a heavy 'thump' before throwing herself onto her bed on her back. She stared at the ceiling, speculating about her peculiar day.

Her internal refusal to take anyone else's shit… she guessed being around Gaara had rubbed off on her. But was it a real change, or just shallow habits picked up from her reliance on Gaara? Sure, she cried less at night (almost never, in recent times), but her nervous stutter remained, and she had yet to do anything about the bullies. Doubtless, just looking at the red-haired teen gave her courage. But that seemed like a reliance on Gaara to protect her.

A knock came at her window. Hinata sat up and looked over: Gaara was sitting on a tree branch right next to the glass. Hinata waved, and he jumped down, landing in a crouch like a cat. Sometimes she thought that man was indestructible. As it were, she hopped off the bed with a small smile and pulled on a sweater to go meet him downstairs. Gaara had been feeling slightly claustrophobic at home, and they were headed to get some coffee. (Geez, coffee at 4:30? The man lived off that stuff. Hinata couldn't think of any other way for the insomniac to function, though)

Gaara held the door for her as they left the café, steaming cups in hand. Hinata clutched her decaf latte; it may have been April, but a cutting wind still blew through Konoha. She stood aside and watched Gaara, who was balancing his mega-caffeine-high-espresso-drink-thing while indifferently slamming it in some other boy's face. Hinata giggled a little.

"That was mean," she said, half-serious. He smirked and she stuck her tongue out at him. He playfully poked her in her side—her extremely _ticklish_ side—and she squeaked, jumping away.

They were standing on the sidewalk, but today the crowds weren't there to bother them. Hinata looked up at Gaara, a smile in her eyes. She noticed the afternoon sun glint off of his crimson hair. He met her eyes and she found herself lost for a moment, speechless. His sharp jawbone was presented starkly with the soft shadows and lines of the afternoon; the seafoam-green eyes rimmed by the delicate dark purple-black circles of an insomniac. He really was beautiful, she thought.

"Hey, lovebirds!" a rude and agitated voice cut into Hinata's shameless staring. They both turned to the speaker, a junior flanked by a couple of groupies. "We need to talk," he said to Gaara. Apparently, the redheaded teen managed to piss a lot of people off.

Said redhead passed his drink to Hinata and neared the boy until they were practically nose-to-nose. The boy opened his mouth, and, several profane words later and with no reaction from Gaara whatsoever, he roughly shoved the latter.

Gaara's fingers curled into fists. Hinata knew that indifferent stance coupled with the look in his eye meant that he was trying hard to control himself. Still not satisfied, the boy raised his own fist. When Gaara dodged the clumsy blow, his whole posse began to circle around him, sadistic smirks on their faces. But Gaara would not fight back, Hinata knew—he would dodge, but that would only make them angrier—because he had promised her that he would be better, control himself.

Hinata unthinkingly rushed up to where things were about to get messy, "G-Guys, please, stop t-this; leave him alone, p-please!" They all turned to look at her. Horrified at what she'd done, she flushed so deeply it was almost purple, and started to sway on her feet. She didn't notice that the conflict was now ended before it had really begun. She didn't notice that in the few seconds where she had lost consciousness, the group had dispersed and Gaara had carried her to the nearest bench.

Hinata opened her eyes, and blinked a couple of times: how had she gotten on a bench? The answer was sitting right next to her, holding both of their drinks, a look of pure resolve on his face. She shifted and he looked at her with kind eyes, before handing her the luke-warm cup and walking beside her on the sidewalk back home.


	16. Chapter 16

At the sound of a soft creak, Tenten groaned softly and rolled over. There was a soft 'thud', and a sleepy bun-haired teenager found herself on the ground.

'Wha?' she thought, not quite sure if she'd said it out loud. Oh yeah, she'd fallen asleep on Neji's couch again. Damn, what time was it?

Mumbling incoherently, she pulled herself up to look at the clock on the TV: 2:17 a.m. Ah, well that sucked. What had woken her up, anyway? Neji's house was usually dead silent at night, which was why Tenten, the world's lightest sleeper, tended to crash here frequently.

She heard a small 'click', and, her curiosity aroused, she decided to investigate. Quietly climbing over the furniture of the room that had become more familiar to her than her own house a long time ago, she made her way to the hallway. It was then that she heard hushed voices.

Peering over the doorway, her eyes adjusted to the dim light to reveal two figures, one small and fragile-looking, and the other tall and lean, clearly a guy's. Tenten instantly recognized the small one as Hinata, but who was the other one? The brunette was pulled out of her mental attempts to find out when the boy reached out to encircle the girl in his arms.

"Hina," she heard him say softly. That confirmed the girl as Hinata, but Tenten _knew_ that voice. It belonged to… whose voice was it? The two shifted slightly away from the doorway, and a sliver of dim light landed on the boy's head, revealing red hair. Tenten stifled a gasp. _Gaara_. She didn't particularly have anything against the boy, but he _had_ hurt Kiba, and she knew Neji was awfully suspicious of him. And Tenten knew how protective Neji could be, even if he pretended not to care.

Just then, Gaara leaned down, and for a moment, no sound could be heard. Then Tenten heard shallow breathing, and the momentarily opened space between the two closed again as Hinata leaned into Gaara and kissed his cheek. She then turned towards the end of the hall, and Tenten shrank back, undetected.

When she heard the rustling of fabric, Tenten dared to peer out. Hinata now had a jacket on, and was quietly slipping out the door, closing it behind her with a small 'click'.

When they were gone, complete silence filled the house again, and as Tenten returned to her bed on the couch, she felt as if she'd intruded on something private and special.

Break

"G-Gaara, my f-father is having one of his formal dinners, and y-you k-kind of have to come."

Gaara, who had been happily sipping his super-caffeinated-to-the-point-where-it-was-borderline-toxic coffee, turned to the tiny blue-haired girl and gave her a deadpan look.

Hinata, sensing his rising unease, immediately jumped to explain. "Y-you see, twice a year or so, m-my father holds a fancy formal dinner for the Hyuugas and a few guests. L-Like, Neji is b-bringing Tenten. So please p-please don't leave me alone with them! You won't have to talk to anyone, just dress nicely, sit and then we can leave."

The redhead looked into Hinata's slightly desperate face. Geez, it looked like the girl hated formal gatherings almost as much as he did. It also couldn't help that it was a family gathering. Gaara had _met_ her family, and they were not pleasant people. Heh, it's not like he was one to talk, though, most people hated/feared him.

Sighing inwardly, Gaara nodded and resigned himself to a night of torture, Hyuuga-style.

Break

A week later found a screaming Temari standing in front of a _very_ irritated Gaara, who was standing in his room wearing only a button-up shirt and a pair of boxers.

"…Cannot even _think_ of wearing jeans to this," she was saying, after having (literally) forced her youngest brother into the shirt he was currently wearing. Temari had nearly died (again) when she saw him attempt to pull on jeans for the Hyuugas' dinner-party-thing. Even Temari knew how uptight the Hyuugas were, and so, as much as it pained him, Gaara would have to dress nicely for said occasion.

And so Temari opened Gaara's closet (filled with the clothes he never wore) and rummaged through to the very back, where, under many questionable items, lay a pair of slacks, dress shoes and a tie. _Oh, God, he's gonna hate this._ Temari inwardly sighed as she pulled her upper half out of the messy vortex-of-doom that was Gaara's closet.

The moment Gaara caught sight of what was in his older sister's arms, a look of extreme pain crossed his face for a moment, before his mask fell back into place.

"I'm not wearing that." He said bluntly. As Temari neared him with those cursed pieces of fabric, he practically ignored her and them altogether. She unfolded the slacks with a look that he knew well. It was the look that had appeared often when they were younger. It was the you-do-what-I-say-now-or-I-will-force-you-and-believe-me-it-will-be-violent-and-painful look of _doom_.

Abandoning the cool I'm-ignoring-you act, a suddenly fearful Gaara leapt up onto the windowsill. He gazed down at his older sister with wide eyes.

"Noooo, Tema please don't make me wear those," by this point Gaara was practically whining, and Gaara _did not whine_. Then again, Gaara also did not wear slacks/ugly-shoes/a _tie_.

Temari only cackled evilly, kicking the door shut without ever taking her eyes off her prey. She smiled at the deer-caught-in-headlights expression on her normally tough little brother's face, and approached slowly…

Break

Hinata was sitting in the kitchen, face pressed against the window. She was waiting for Gaara, and this was the only place where she wouldn't have to talk to her family. At last, a green jeep pulled up that she recognized to be Temari's (not that any Hyuuga would drive such a 'low-class' car). Hinata jumped out of her seat and rushed out the door, nearly colliding with Gaara on his way in.

She looked up at him, hardly recognizing the tall boy wearing a jacket, slacks, and a _tie_, with combed hair and a slightly irritated expression seeping through his emotional mask.

"G-Gaara!" she half-gasped. He looked down at her. She looked uncomfortable in the knee-length black short-sleeve dress and flats. It was plain, but he supposed that the Hyuugas would approve. Regardless, she looked beautiful. As she turned to lead him back inside the house, the light glinted off of something in her hair. It was a beaded butterfly clip holding the back of her short indigo hair.

Break

Gaara sat stiffly in his seat as food was served to the excessively long table filled with a score or two of stuffy Hyuugas, all of whom had observed him with cold pale eyes filled with contempt. Whatever, that was not the current problem.

There was a middle-aged man who was staring menacingly at the redhead down the table. Gaara tried his best to ignore it, but it was obviously making Hinata uncomfortable. He could _feel_ the unease radiating off of the Hyuuga heir, and felt a wave of protectiveness at the way she gripped her chopsticks so tightly her knuckles were white.

When Hiashi began to upbraid her for not placing her glass back in the exact spot it had been, in front of all the Hyuugas, Gaara had a hard time keeping himself calm. Hinata was just sitting there, taking it! Struggling for control, Gaara suddenly heard a loud snapping sound and then the eyes of every single Hyuuga in the room plus Tenten were on him.

He looked down to find the chopsticks in his hand had been broken in two by the force of his grip. Ah, shit. Just what he needed. Gaara stood up and apologized stiffly before leaving the dining room to throw away the destroyed utensils.

A moment later he felt a presence behind him, and turned to find a smirking Neji leaning in the doorway.

"Good job, man. You actually managed to make them dislike you even more." Gaara did not dignify that comment with a reply. So the communicationaly-challenged (A/N: not a word I know) Neji tried again. "Does it bother you? Seeing her take their shit like that? Don't bother trying to help, Hiashi might just forbid you from seeing her, and then you would have me on your back to make sure of it, and that would be pleasant for neither of us."

"Hn. When is this over?"

Neji smirked, "So you hate these things too…" He then came over to where Gaara was sitting at the kitchen table, and pulled up the chair next to him. "I'd rather not go back there for a while," was his only explanation.

And so they sat, a mutual loathing for formal events overriding dislike for each other, and a comfortable silence installing itself. Neither boy was particularly verbose, but they managed to communicate something to each other at that time.

He's not half bad, thought Neji, watching the silent redhead as he stared out the dark window. Gaara had snapped those chopsticks without even realizing it, and Neji noticed that for all his lean build, the youngest Sabaku sibling was quite strong. Neji had heard the rumors, concerning Gaara. None of them were pleasant—one even suggested the boy had killed people. And then there was the incident with Kiba… the dog-lover had been pretty shaken up after that. He supposed that Gaara hadn't really _beaten_ Kiba, only thoroughly frightened him. Gaara did seem to genuinely care for his little cousin, and Neji figured that he was capable of protecting her.

"You know, you're not half bad," Neji finally spoke. As much as he disliked the reputation this boy carried, he cared far too much for his little cousin to get in the way of their relationship. "But if you _ever_ hurt her…" 'Nuff said.

"Same to you."

"We should spar sometime. I believe you would be a worthy opponent."

Gaara nodded, and Hinata entered the kitchen.

"U-Um, d-dessert is being served; you don't have to eat any but you should still show up." The sight of Gaara sitting with her cousin unnerved Hinata. The two were too similar for their own good: quiet, protective and easily provoked. She sighed inwardly. I guess there's nothing to be done, she though as they both stood and followed her into the dining room of hell.

Break

"God, is it finally over?"

Hinata slumped back into her chair, "It is, thank goodness."

All of the Hyuuga relatives were slowly taking their leave now, and the house was growing more peaceful by the minute.

"Good, let's go."

"In a bit, Gaara, I n-need to wait until they all leave, and t-then I wanna get out of this stupid thing."

Almost an hour and a half later, al the Hyuugas were gone and Hinata stood before Gaara in jeans and a sweatshirt. Without another word, they walked out of the house and into the brisk night air.

Halfway there, it started to rain, and before long, Hinata began to shiver slightly in her thin sweatshirt. Gaara put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.

Once they arrived at Gaara's house, Hinata took off her wet sweatshirt and stood in her t-shirt, teeth chattering. Gaara disappeared into his room and came out with a big, thick sweatshirt, which he handed her to put on.

Once that was taken care of, Hinata went to the living room to choose a movie, while Gaara made himself some coffee. The Hyuugas don't drink coffee. Yet another reason to dislike Hinata's extended family, he thought.

Coffee made, lights turned off, and remote in hand, they started the movie Hinata had picked. Gaara chuckled to himself at her selection. For all her quiet fragility, the meek girl had a surprising love of zombie movies.

Curled up on the couch, with Hinata in his arms, Gaara settled in to watch the living dead attack humans and get blown to pieces repeatedly. He liked zombie movies well enough—he guessed he was lucky to get a girl who didn't only want to watch sappy dramas and other shit Gaara had no patience for.

"Your family sucks," he said randomly, looking down at the girl in his arms, "just so you know."

She giggled sleepily, eyes already closed to the undead massacre occurring on the screen. "I know…" Hinata shifted slightly, curling into his warm chest, "they're weird," she mumbled. Then her breathing evened out, and Gaara was left with a sleeping Hinata on his chest, a half-finished cup of coffee in hand, and a zombie-apocalypse movie playing at him. And he couldn't remember a time when he felt more content.


	17. Chapter 17

(A few weeks later)

"Are you ready?" Neji sank into his signature fighting stance, staring across the sandy clearing at where Gaara shifted into his own. The redhead nodded, and they began.

At first, neither of them moved, and a moment later it became apparent why. Both Gaara and Neji began to leak killer intent, sizing each other up. After a few minutes, with the murderous feeling bearing down heavily on the clearing, the two teenage boys were still standing there, steadily increasing the intensity of their intent—locked in a battle of will.

Almost ten minutes of trying to emotionally break each other later, even Hinata was feeling a sizable amount of discomfort, from her position almost twenty feet away. She thought the two couldn't possibly be able to keep throwing mental/psychological blows. But then again, she'd thought that six minutes ago, too.

Not much later, the two boys realized that the other was not going to be affected by the overbearing force of their will, and therefore the fight would go nowhere, fast. Almost instantly the killer intent receded and the air lightened considerably.

Neji lunged forward, closing the space between the two in an instant, and began a torrent of blows, aimed at Gaara's pressure points. To his slight surprise, every single blow was blocked by the redhead, who hadn't taken more than a few steps back under the assault.

That wasn't going to work, clearly, so Neji withdrew and the two began to circle each other, searching for an opening.

Hinata watched in awe from where she stood. She had known Gaara was a good fighter—he'd proven that many times over—but to be a match for _Neji_? He had to have at least a black belt to accomplish that.

Neji, apparently spotting an opening, flew forward and threw a hit. Gaara blocked the blow meant for his midsection, grabbing Neji's arm and pulling him off-balance. He then aimed a kick at the Hyuuga, sending the long-haired boy back a few feet, where he landed in a crouch.

"Heh, you're not bad," said Neji, straightening up and settling back into an offensive stance, "now I can finally get serious." With that, he moved towards Gaara—so fast Hinata could barely follow it—and commenced in a barrage of punches and kicks that were unique to Neji's fighting style.

Partway through, Gaara and Neji both withdrew momentarily, after having been locked in a stalemate. They looked at each other, both lightly panting, before Gaara surged forward this time, a blur of red and black, and was suddenly sending a punch to Neji's jaw, which the latter only had time to partially block, and sent the Hyuuga flying. Neji flipped back in mid air, righting himself just before landing. He smirked at the redhead, and the two engaged once more.

It seemed that Gaara had finally gotten serious. Instead of simply blocking Neji's blows, he was now weaving around them: dodging and then returning quickly with a hit of his own. He moved with such lithe grace, which, coupled with Neji's fluid movements, made it look to Hinata like the two were engaged in a rapid, lethal dance.

Their match actually lasted a few hours—it was amazing how much stamina the two had—it was over when, after being engaged in a particularly ferocious exchange that had ended in a stalemate when the two ran out of stamina, both parties leapt back and locked eyes from their crouching positions: a mutual agreement to stop. It had not been a dull match either; Hinata had watched her cousin spar many times before, but she had never seen him take anyone this seriously, nor had he ever been this equally matched. Both Gaara and Neji had received a fair number of blows, but the two were clearly accustomed to that, and much more.

They had both received some harsh hits, and would more than likely end up with multiple bruises in the morrow. However, all in all, neither was really hurt, and Neji had only managed to hit two of Gaara's pressure points—a record low for the Hyuuga prodigy.

Hinata had watched the fight, mind reeling. Both Neji and Gaara were so strong, nobody would dare mess with them. And if some dumb, unfortunate soul did, they would get the shit beaten out of them—the match she had witnessed was proof enough for that. But for weak little Hinata, all she had in terms of strength was Gaara and Neji.

Depending on them only made her feel weaker, and what would happen if they weren't there? Hinata _hated_ feeling weak, hated how weak she really was. She wished she could be strong enough to depend on herself—strong like Gaara and Neji were… And as said teenage boys finished their match, the shy indigo-haired Hyuuga looked up at the blue sky and decided she would be.

Break

"Gaara, can I ask you to do something for me?"

Aforementioned boy looked up and leaned out of his chair a little, clunky black headphones around his neck. "Hm?"

"I want you to teach me to protect myself, from Itachi and others like him. I want to be strong like you and Neji are."

Hinata had posed the question suddenly, looking up from where she was sitting covered in five different textbooks and dozens of papers. The afternoon had been nothing out of the ordinary; Gaara curled up in his desk chair, spacing out but for when Hinata asked him a question on his already completed homework.

Gaara gazed at her for a moment, piercing her with those seafoam-green eyes as if he was looking right into her soul. He thought. Hinata typically abhorred violence, but Itachi… She would need to be able to protect herself or he would continue to hurt her, which meant Gaara would continue to have to protect her. Even Gaara knew that he was not Superman, nor could he be with her every moment of the day. What would happen to her if Itachi hurt her when he wasn't there to protect her? No, Gaara would not even consider the thought. It would be too painful. So he supposed that the only option was to teach her to defend herself against that scum.

Break

The next weekend, Gaara led Hinata to the Subakus' backyard. It was then that Hinata realized they hadn't been spending time there lately. Right outside the house, hidden from view from the street, was a clearing prepared for training. It had clearly taken a good deal of work to put together, and Hinata felt a surge of gratification for the redhead.

The two then commenced in basic self-defense. Hinata had been timid at first, not wanting to attack or hit Gaara for fear of hurting him. That is, until Gaara had proven to her that she couldn't hurt him (you probably don't want to know, it involved a pair of boxers, a hairbrush, and a two-story window).

And so the next weeks went by. There were only two months of school left now. Hinata's life was nearly consumed by her training. Gaara was a strict and relentless teacher; he trained her constantly until she collapsed from fatigue, and refused to let her grades slip, either, for fear of having Hiashi on his case.

Still, he was also compassionate and sweet, never making Hinata feel worthless—she got enough of that from elsewhere. Gaara was pleased to note that when Hinata put aside her personal fears and limitations, she was a formidable opponent who was improving at a rapid pace.

Break

I collapsed into bed, not bothering with pajamas or teeth-brushing. At least it was Friday, and tomorrow I would get to sleep in a bit before Gaara came and woke me up to train. I pulled the covers up and the moment my head hit the pillow, I was asleep.

I woke up the next morning to a light tapping at my window. Eyes blurry from sleep, I pulled back the curtain to find Gaara sitting in the tree—my wake up call. Sighing, I rolled over, throwing back the covers, and padded into my bathroom. I looked in the mirror: not much was different, the customary sleepiness was a little more pronounced, maybe, and I was starting to put on muscle as a result of spending nearly all my free time training. Gaara pushed me hard, but I did sign up for this, and I can tell he cares for me. Feeling the heat rise in my face at the thought of Gaara, I quickly grabbed my toothbrush and busied myself with that affair.

Two minutes later, I put on a pair of clean sweats and a t-shirt, combed my fingers through my hair and hop-tripped down the stairs sleepily. I walked straight past the kitchen—there was no point in breakfast, I would likely throw it up anyway—and put my sneakers on, before grabbing my keys and closing the door behind me.

Gaara and I walked down the street in relative silence, listening to the morning. At some point we had linked fingers as we went.

"Alright," Gaara pronounced this morning's training over with that one word and a satisfied look in his eye. I straightened up from my stance, panting heavily. God, how did he do it? We had been training for hours and he was barely even breathing hard!

We went inside to get some water before heading to town. I leaned against the counter, wiping the sweat off my forehead, and accepted the glass of cool, clear liquid offered to me. After downing it, I noticed Gaara's gaze on me. I looked up at him, and he moved closer.

"Did I ever tell you how beautiful you are?" it was quiet, and coming from Gaara, the man of few single-syllable grunts and even fewer words, I could have almost imagined him say it. But no, the words were there, along with the slight twinge of uncertainty in his unreadable eyes. I tipped my chin upward, and, given our proximity, closed the remaining inch between us so that our lips connected.

He kissed me back, putting his arms around me. I reached out to place the glass I was still holding on the counter before I dropped it. His soft lips tasted clean and fresh, like the water we'd just been drinking. I felt my chest tighten as I ran out of breath, and when we disconnected, I felt the blush creep up into my hairline. I tried to force it back, but, alas, to no avail.

I smiled slightly and put both of our glasses in the sink, and we left for town. When we got there, my stomach growled loudly, and so we went to get food. After all that training, I was ravenous. Even Gaara ate something (he's peculiar about that sort of thing).

As Gaara and I stepped into our favorite coffee shop, my senses were greeted by the delicious smell of freshly brewed coffee. We stood in line, ignoring the glances from some of the customers who were in our class. When it was our turn, we stepped up to the counter and told our orders to the boy behind it, who looked more than a little uneasy, seeing Gaara.

Orders placed, we sat down in two squishy red armchairs, waiting. Neither of us talks very much, so not much conversation occurred. Instead, I found my thoughts drifting back to Neji, sitting in our living room with his friends, who still hadn't forgiven Gaara (and by extension me) for the incident in the museum. Only Tenten didn't glare when we passed. Maybe it was because she was almost constantly around Neji, who had, if not forgiven, at least cooled off about Gaara. The two were so alike it would be weird for them to _not_ get along. That was one thing I couldn't understand: how could Neji, quiet, stoic Neji, end up with a crazy ball of energy like Tenten? I mean—

My small mental rant-thing was cut off by the boy from behind the counter, who placed our drinks on the table in front of us, and, with a nervous glance in Gaara's direction, quickly removed himself.

I looked over at Gaara—from one look I could tell he was feeling restless in the coffee shop, so I got up, nudged him gently, grabbed my drink, and we walked out. The yellow midday sun warmed my face, and I closed my eyes as I sipped my coffee; the cold, sugary liquid rushed to my brain and I couldn't help but smile.

I felt a hand on my waist and looked up into green eyes—a paler version of the color that was popping up from the ground and on the trees. Gaara's face was stoic as always, but his eyes held a smile. I turned a little pink, looking down at the sidewalk. Oh, why couldn't I control that damn blushing? Curse my pale complexion.

We walked slowly, so we could finish our coffees, to Gaara's motorcycle. My heart still sped up whenever I saw it, but at least I wouldn't faint like the first time he'd taken me on it. I climbed on and gripped Gaara's waist tightly as he started it, and then we were speeding along windy black asphalt streaked with yellow and white.

We approached Gaara's door, mentally going through movie choices, but before Gaara reached the doorknob, it swung open and Temari was standing in front of us with a peculiar expression on her face. As she walked back into the house with the two of us following in her wake, we found out why.

Sitting awkwardly at the Sabakus' kitchen table was Kiba, looking fairly green.

"K-Kiba? What's g-going on?" Why would Kiba be in Gaara's house?

"I… need your help, Sabaku." It seemed as if those words were downright painful for the dog-lover to force out. "It… It's Ino. They've hurt her, badly. Itachi did. I need to get back at them. I… need your help to make it right."


	18. Chapter 18

Gaara and Hinata just stared in silence for a moment. Then, blinking, Hinata closed her mouth that had fallen slightly open. Gaara ran a hand through his hair and looked slightly uncomfortable. The redhead was clearly unaccustomed to dealing with people who weren't family or Hinata, and so he was unsure as to how he should handle the situation before him.

Thankfully, Temari took notice of this and stepped in to save the awkward situation before it got worse.

"Uh… Kiba, how 'bout you tell us exactly what happened?" And so the brown haired boy did.

break

Gaara sat on his bed in the growing twilight. He needed to really _think_. There was something about this situation that disturbed him, something that didn't seem right. He knew Itachi wasn't acting alone—the conniving elder Uchiha had nothing to gain by harming Ino, but everything to gain by harming someone who would lead him to Gaara, in exchange for something that suited his own best interests. He wasn't quite sure why Kiba had chosen to come to him, of all people, but he suspected that Itachi had known he would.

Who would want to find him, that Itachi could come in contact with? He could think of no one in Konoha. And in Suna… well that last bit of past was going to stay that way. Past. He did _not_ want that coming back to haunt him. Especially now that he had finally found something he cared about… Now that he had Hinata…

break

They sat at the kitchen table. Ino was still in the hospital, covered in bandages with a broken arm, refusing to talk to anyone, refusing to eat, refusing to see even Kiba. And that was clearly breaking him inside. Said boy sat with this head between his hands, staring blankly at the table. The other three knew he was listening, though, because as they talked the dog lover would occasionally fist his hands through his shaggy brown hair.

The plan had been set; now all that was left was to wait. Gaara looked at Hinata, who looked away. She was still upset at him. He had asked Neji to 'protect' her, which meant she was getting a personal bodyguard of sorts, and wouldn't be able to be there when it happened. Hinata did not like this situation one bit. Having to be guarded meant she was weak, and Hinata had been training really hard as of late—she was definitely _not_ weak anymore.

Still, she knew it was only because they cared about her; not that she was just going to sit and accept it, but Hinata still appreciated that Gaara cared about her enough to try to keep her safe.

Break

Itachi opened his locker and a piece of paper fluttered out. He picked it up and leaned against the row of lockers as he unfolded it:

**The park—by the benches. Tomorrow, three pm. **

**Bring your new friend.**

The note wasn't signed, but the Uchiha knew exactly whom it was from. He had to give the squirt credit; he was pretty smart to have figured out the message sent by way of that blonde girl—even smarter to know he had an accomplice.

The eldest Uchiha smirked: it was exactly as _he'd_ predicted.

Break

Yellow afternoon sunlight streamed in through the pale green leaves of the trees and engulfed the clearing in mild warmth. There were a couple picnic benches to the side, shading them and leaving most of the clearing empty but for grass. On one such bench lounged three teenagers. The only girl was sitting on top of the table, cross-legged, while one boy sat nervously strumming his fingers on the wood, and the other sat facing the other way, a stoic expression on his face.

Hinata was quite pleased with herself. She wasn't quite sure how, but somehow she'd managed to convince Gaara to let her come. Although, Gaara had been too distracted recently to put up much of an argument. She wasn't sure if it was a good or bad thing, but at least now she would have a chance to prove she wasn't weak.

Kiba was so nervous he couldn't think straight, and the only thing that kept him from pacing the clearing until he had dug trenches was the frantic tapping of his fingers on he bench beside him. He wanted this over with.

Gaara wasn't even facing the entrance to the clearing. He lounged back against the table, staring at a random tree. It was as if he didn't notice what was about to happen, or care at all. With his stoic mask set firmly and carefully in place, it was impossible to read him.

Kiba abruptly stopped his rhythmic tapping, causing Hinata to look up. Itachi was striding up to the center of the clearing, flanked by a blue boy she recognized as Kisame. Hinata was surprised Itachi had brought him; he didn't usually allow Kisame to come when they beat some one up, as they were romantically involved. Hinata's somewhat amused musings over the presence of Itachi's boyfriend were cut short when another figure followed behind them.

It was a tall man in his twenties with cropped white hair and sunglasses. He was wearing a black jacket over a shirt with a skeleton where his would be, and jeans. He had a gold cross around his neck and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

"It's been a fucking long time, Gaara." Gaara, who has still not turned to face the newcomers, froze. As he was motionless to begin with, it was almost imperceptible, but Hinata noticed him stiffen.

Slowly, the redhead turned around. He saw the older man and stood up. His stoic expression didn't falter; the only thing that betrayed him (to only Hinata, at that) was how his slouch leaned slightly to the left, on high alert.

"Hidan." Gaara spat out, maintaining his mask of indifference.

Hidan smiled maliciously, securing his cigarette between his fingers and letting them drop to his side. "Still a cold little asshole, I see—you haven't changed one fucking bit."

"Neither have you."

Itachi, unlike Hidan, it seemed, did not have patience for that sort of banter. So he cut to the chase. "For what purpose did you ask us here?"

Gaara ignored the Uchiha completely, never taking his green orbs off of Hidan's shaded ones. "Message received," he growled, "now what the fuck do you want with me?"

"Want? Oh, I don't fucking want anything, really. I just damn felt like bringing back some of the past. You know, you should really fucking consider what God would fucking think of what you've done. So I thought we could have a nice little fucking chat and reminisce about old times, eh?"

"Don't fuck with me!" Gaara's voice was slightly louder. Uh-oh, Hinata could see him slowly loosing his cool. Who was this man, to get Gaara so riled up so quickly?

"Alright, alright, you fucking got me. We have a message for you, well, me, really: you can't fucking hide anymore, it's damn time to pay what fucking you owe. And I'll be sticking the fuck around until you do," at this the white-haired man looked over to Hinata, a smirk playing on his lips, "you can fucking bet on that, you bastard."

His voice had remained calm the whole while—cheerful, even. He stood before the teens looking completely at ease. Gaara, on the other hand, was about to loose it. He shoved his hands into his hoodie's pockets, to hide his clenched fists. He stared straight into Hidan's eyes, keeping a calm face but pouring the rest into his gaze. Itachi flinched, but Hidan seemed unfazed.

"You stay the _fuck_ away from them, got it?" Gaara's voice was low and menacing, promising there would be an _or else_. The redhead turned and walked away, and Hinata and Kiba jumped up to follow.

"Glad to see you haven't fucking lost your touch, little Sabaku!" Hidan called after them, a smile on his face. He stomped on his cigarette, lit a new one and watched them go, smirking. The other four present had no idea just what was going on, and if Hidan knew that little Sabaku brat, the latter would want to keep it that way. Heh, he could use that, along with that girl… she was quite a beauty, and he figured Gaara would pay dearly to protect her from harm.

Hidan fingered the cross around his neck. He lifted it up to his field of view and watched it glint off the dying sunlight. It looked like he would be performing more rituals for his god. All in time, he thought, all in fucking time.

Break

Gaara walked straight out of the park and all the way to his apartment, leaving Kankuro's jeep (not trusting himself to drive at the moment), and heading straight into his room, where he locked the door and closed the blinds.

_Fuck!_ How could this have happened? How could they have found him? And why now—after all this time—why now? Gaara kicked over a pile of clothes and punched the wall, leaving a small dent and red knuckles.

He walked over to his desk and turned the stereo on to blast heavy metal, so he didn't have to deal with anyone. Shit! Gaara hardly cursed, considering it just extra hot air, but the situation seemed to call for it (which was ironic, considering Hidan's speech habit). What was he going to _do_? That damn Hidan had him trapped; there was nothing he _could_ do.

After an hour or so of pacing angrily around his room, cursing the situation and randomly punching things, Gaara's resolve began to weaken. Suddenly, the redhead was engulfed in a flood of memories long suppressed. Overwhelmed, he slid to the floor, holding his head. There was no escaping the pain in his own mind; not now that all his mental blocks had come crashing down. He could shield himself outwardly, put on a mask, contain his emotions, but on the inside he was still the hurt, explosive little boy he had been then.

And so the youngest Sabaku sibling remained, either unable to hear the calls of his sister and girlfriend over the music or choosing not to. There was no reaching him—he had locked the door and Temari had too much respect for her youngest brother to pick the lock or break it down.

Hinata and Temari sat at the kitchen table with steaming cups of tea between them. the Hyuuga had relayed the day's events to an equally confused Temari. The latter had always know there were things in Gaara's past she didn't know of, but the blonde had never suspected it to have been this major.

Thinking like the expert she was (_not_ a part of her personal past she wished to get into), Temari suggested that Hinata stay at theirs for the time being. She could share Temari's room.

Break

Temari sat outside her room in the hallway as she waited for Hinata to change into the pajamas she'd given the younger girl, her mind whirring. Everyone had their own shit to deal with; she could respect that, even if it was her baby brother. Temari just hoped that he knew what he was doing—Hinata getting involved could make things messy, and Temari knew personally just how messy things could get.

Hinata finally emerged, and Temari put on a smile for the poor girl; it really wasn't fair for her to get all tied up in this—whatever _this_ was. She padded into her room and changed into her own pajamas—a tank top and boxers—before sending Hinata to bed.

She sat on the couch, a cup of hot chocolate balanced on her knee. When she heard the small clamor in the bathroom stop, and the bedroom light click off, Temari double-checked that all the doors and windows were locked—it never hurt to be careful. She then stuck her empty mug in the sink and walked back to her bedroom, turning off lights as she went, navigating the hall by memory. As she climbed between her covers, Temari reached under her pillow and clutched reassuringly at the handgun she kept there, before closing her eyes and embracing sleep.


	19. Chapter 19

Silence is Silver chp 19

ToxicThreat— you're not supposed to quite understand what Hidan was saying, as it was told mainly from third person limited/Hinata's point of view. The point here is that there is a part of Gaara's past that nobody else knows about, and Hidan knows that, so he's trying to get his point across without telling the others, while sending Gaara a message that he _would_ involve them if it came to that. What he says confuses the others, who have no idea what's going on, but Gaara clearly understands. I hope that clears it up for you ^.^

Temari leaned her head against the doorframe. "Gaara, come on," she tried for the thousandth time to coax her little brother out of his room. This was getting ridiculous. "Gaara, it's been _three days_. Get out here, now."

However, her attempts were futile, and she soon realized it. Temari shook her head and walked into the kitchen. It was time to call in reinforcements.

Break

"Gaara?" the voice muffled by the door was tentative. _Hinata_, Gaara recognized.

"Gaara, please come out," he could hear the pleading in her voice, but still made no move to respond.

He was lying on his back on the cool wooden floor, and had been for…well, he couldn't remember how long. He'd gotten up once to go to the bathroom, he thinks. Unable to bring himself to move, he simply stared at the white ceiling. A few inches from his head lay the headphones, forgotten and still blaring softly.

What the hell? How had everything gotten so out of control, all of the sudden? With Hidan roaming the streets of Konoha like an information time bomb and the safety of the others in jeopardy, Gaara felt so completely helpless. He was numb from the shock—that bit of past he thought he'd buried had turned up so suddenly and was now wreaking havoc on his life.

Eyelids slowly slid down over pale green orbs, opening a moment later. He couldn't sleep, and eating was absolutely out of the question. His brain wasn't cooperating with him. He was royally screwed, Gaara decided.

What he really needed was a plan, but for that he needed to _think_, and thinking brought him to back _there_, and that was a place he _never_ wanted to revisit. Ever. So he continued to stare at the white plaster with empty eyes, ignoring the concerned girls outside his locked door.

This was what happened, when he let people inside his carefully constructed walls… nothing good happened to the people he got close to. And now that he had finally let someone inside, cared about them for real…

_Hinata_.

He couldn't let them hurt her, but this was _Hidan_ he was up against—none of them stood any chance. The white-haired man wanted payment, but Gaara couldn't do that. An eye for an eye—that was how they worked. An eye for an eye, a life for a life.

Gaara couldn't acquiesce, but he knew that if he didn't, Hidan would have no qualms with using the others to get to him. Gaara couldn't allow that—he had already gotten them way too involved as it was. Just the thought of that white-haired monster getting his hands on Hinata…

Gaara clenched his fists involuntarily. No. There was no way in hell he was letting that man get his hands on her. But what could he do? Gaara was vaguely aware of the helpless circles his mind was running in, but simply lay detached from it and let himself wallow in his shock and misery.

Break

Temari sighed. She had thought for sure that Hinata could have made Gaara come out of there. It was past excessive by now; the boy needed to wake up and smell the coffee and get himself out of whatever shit he'd gotten into.

Sure, she'd seen him at his worst—she _was_ his older sister, after all—but before Gaara would school his features and function like a zombie for a while, half present and refusing to talk to anyone.

The blonde momentarily contemplated breaking down the door, but then figured she would be the one made to fix it, and that was a drag. So instead, she turned from her youngest brother's door and ushered an equally (if not more) confused Hinata into the kitchen.

Break

"…And then the man called H-Hidan, I think it was, called him 'little Sabaku,' and G-Gaara turned and walked all the way home, not saying anything a-at all." Hinata finished, lowering her gaze to the steaming mug before her.

"Hm…" Temari leaned back in her own chair, across from the blue-haired Hyuuga, and crossed her arms. "I don't know a Hidan, or anyone of that description. He must have done something we don't know about…" The last murmured part was mainly to herself.

Hinata stared deeper into the cup, fighting back the sting of tears. No. She would be strong; she would _not_ cry. So what if Gaara was having what looked like a mental breakdown? So what if he—and by extension, they—were in a whole lot of trouble? So what if Gaara was still keeping secrets? Everyone was allowed to have their own.

Obviously this Hidan character knew something important about Gaara's past that the latter _did not_ want known. Something he thought he'd left in the past… which would explain his shock at having it turn up again. Gaara clearly wasn't going to be able to fix this alone. Heck, he wasn't even able to leave his room at the moment.

Hinata had never seen him as shaken as he had been at the park. Whatever this was, it definitely involved some old wounds that never healed. She wanted so badly to help him, but even Temari didn't seem to know anything.

"Temari, w-would you please tell me more about Gaara's past?" Maybe she could find something in there…

"Alright, I guess it won't do any harm." The older girl leaned forward and placed her elbows on the table. "What I tell you doesn't leave this room, though." She paused, continuing at Hinata's nod of understanding.

"So. Let's start at the beginning: Our mother died giving birth to Gaara. Kankuro was only two, and I was three years old. We were raised by our dad, who was always a cold and distant man; to this day I still don't know what he did for a living, but it musta been one hell of a living cause he had tons of cash. Anyway…"

Break

Though his mind was numb, his normally active body was beginning to get restless. When Gaara could no longer tolerate motionlessness, he practically jumped off the floor and started pacing around his room, silent in his socked feet.

On an impulse he grabbed the phone and punched in numbers without really paying attention to what they were.

"_Hello?_" A deep, emotionless voice sounded at the other end. After a few seconds Gaara recognized it as belonging to Hinata's cousin, Neji.

"Neji?" He rasped out, voice scratchy from disuse. He cleared his throat and tried again, "It's Gaara." There wasn't much of a difference in the strained sound. God, he sounded like a wreck.

_It's because you are one_. A voice inside him said, and the redhead couldn't dispute it.

"_What is it?_" He could tell by the tone of voice that the Hyuuga's thoughts had immediately gone to Hinata.

"Keep a very careful eye on her; don't leave her alone for one second." And then as if as an afterthought, "Please."

"_Sabaku, what did you do?_"

Gaara shook his head, then remembered that the other couldn't see it. "Nothing. Just… keep her safe…" his voice tapered off, leaving Neji to respond.

"Affirmative." Was his stiff answer, and the line went dead. Gaara placed the phone back on its stand and resumed pacing restlessly.

Break

Hinata was currently walking home from Gaara's, having left a sleeping Temari on the couch and a certain redhead still locked in his room. As she walked the uneven sidewalk, her thoughts were far away. Having found out so much about Gaara's childhood, she had come to realize how little she knew the boy. But she had also realized how deeply she cared for him. Whatever mess Gaara had gotten himself into, he clearly didn't know how to get out, and Hinata decided then and there that she would be the one to help him.

The only problem was, she had no idea how to do that.

Without realizing it, Hinata had reached her house, and was standing inside the entry. She slipped her shoes off and made her way upstairs, making a beeline for her laptop. She stared at the search engine page for a moment, deciding where to begin. She needed more info, and figured that sketchy Hidan guy was as good a place to start as any.

Break

"Oof!" Hinata, wrapped in her thoughts, had walked into someone. She had been thinking about the information she had found on Hidan—or rather, lack of information would be more accurate. It was like the guy didn't exist! And to top it off, Gaara hadn't come to school that day, again. Hinata was beginning to get frustrated.

"Watch where you're going, twerp." She looked up to meet the eyes of the tall senior who was glaring down at her. Upon seeing her face, though, his glare turned into a malicious smile.

"Why, hello there, girlie" Hinata recognized him as one of Itachi's friends, but didn't know his name.

"Hey, what's taking you so long?" a voice called from behind him, and, receiving no answer, two boys approached the one in front of Hinata. One was Deidera, and the other she didn't know, although she couldn't see his face from behind his hood.

"What is going on here?" A deep voice drawled, and Hinata 'eeped', feeling the presence of Itachi behind her.

"Oh, we were just about to have some _fun_." The first guy said, smirking.

Hinata swallowed. Well, at least Hidan wasn't here, she thought as she watched the boys circle around her, looking like predators about to play with their food. Hinata tried not to panic as they crouched into fighting positions, clearly looking to beat her up.

Just as the first boy started to throw a punch, an image of Gaara flashed though Hinata's mind, and she blocked it, grabbing the boy's arm and pulling him past her using his own momentum.

Said boy regained his balance and turned to her, wide-eyed. It was then that Hinata half-consciously decided not to run away from this fight.

Angered, the boy-whose-name-she-didn't-know lunged at her again, and this time Hinata merely dodged it, sending him flying in the other direction. As if by an unspoken cue, the others all took that moment to attack her.

Hinata found herself in the middle of a hurricane of flying limbs, she herself mainly blocking and dodging, but still landing an occasional hit. She was being attacked from practically all sides, and found herself relying on her newly formed reflexes to keep herself from getting excessively damaged as the fight went on.

After forming a cross-block, Hinata stepped back and gave a side-thrust kick to Deidera's abdomen, sending the blond back several inches. She then turned to her right just in time to palm-block a punch from the guy whose hood had somehow managed to stay on during the fight. Quickly jabbing him in the area exposed by the block, she turned again to dodge a roundhouse kick from Itachi. Hinata took advantage of her position near the ground to knock Itachi off-balance, seeing as it was already weakened from the kick.

After some time, most of which was a blur for Hinata, said Hyuuga managed to grab Itachi's shoulders and take him down. After a moment with the wind knocked out of him, the Uchiha rolled away and straightened up, his eyes unreadable.

"You've changed." He stated passively, voice even as if they hadn't just been locked in a physical fight.

"People don't change, they just become more of what they're supposed to be," Hinata said, thanking the heavens she hadn't stuttered. And in that moment, she decided that what she said was true; she was still herself, but now she was slowly becoming strong enough to live for herself and do her own share of protecting.

Itachi simply 'Hn'-ed and turned, leaving the others to follow him at their own pace.

Hinata knew then that she _would_ be strong for Gaara—she _would_ get them out of this mess. She picked up her bag that had been discarded during the fight, and started to walk home.

Soon the adrenaline died down and Hinata began to think about the situation. She, Hinata Hyuuga, quiet, timid, pacifist Hinata Hyuuga, had just engaged in a fistfight with four seniors, and won.

Then the blood rushed to her head and she could feel her face flushing deep purple, nearly fainting. Oh, God, what had she just done?


	20. Chapter 20

Silence is Silver chp 20

From behind the corner of a building that faced the street, a dark haired teenager, who bore a striking resemblance to one of the boys fighting in the street outside, peered through his bangs wide-eyed. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. The tiny Hyuuga girl, whom he had always seen as complacent and meek, was having a fistfight with three seniors and _Itachi_. And she was _winning_, he thought in awe as he watched the boys slowly retreat and then leave altogether, leaving the girl to straighten up and search for her bag, looking flushed but otherwise expressionless.

As she walked off, the boy followed her from the shadows, halfheartedly cursing Neji for blackmailing him into guarding her while the longhaired teen frolicked around doing whatever it was he did. Wait—did he just say frolicked? The boy shook his head and pretended not to have said such an uncool word, even if it was only in his head.

All thoughts were dispelled, however, as he felt his body tense up at the sight of his subject swaying on her feet, looking for all the world about to pass out. He relaxed a moment later as she caught herself and continued her trek home, seemingly in a daze.

Now came the real problem: what the _hell_ was he going to tell Neji? That his cute, defenseless cousin who needed to be guarded had gotten into a fistfight with a group of seniors and _won_? That she was now some kind of female Karate Kid?

He shook his head: 1. Neji would never believe him. 2. The Hyuuga would most likely think he was high or something, and that wouldn't do. 3. If—the dark haired teen stopped himself right there. Ohgod, please _please_ don't tell him he was numbering his speech, _in his mind_. That older brother of his was becoming a bad influence on him. Nobody but his brother was weird enough to make numbered lists for _everything_.

The boy watched quietly as the Hyuuga girl approached her house, fumbled with the key and quickly stepped inside.

Break

Hinata closed the door behind her with a soft _click_. She shrugged off her bookbag, letting it fall to the floor with a muted _thump_. The indigo-haired girl stood in her room for a moment, motionless.

She felt slightly numb, but she was thankful for it. It helped keep her thoughts away, and they were dangerous at the moment. Still, she kept her mind carefully blank as she slowly peeled off one article of clothing after another, leaving them on the floor in a heap, and padded into the bathroom.

She turned the shower on, letting the steam fill the room before she stepped in, and let out a small moan of pleasure as the hot water hit her tired body. Hinata leaned her head back into the water, and let the heat soothe her.

One very _long_ shower later, a refreshed Hinata stepped into her room, towel-drying her short hair. She pulled on a fresh pair of jeans and socks, grabbing a shirt out of her drawer. Hinata spend some more time drying her hair with the towel, before hanging it up and picking up her comb.

Her hair had actually grown quite a bit, she observed. It was now just below her shoulders—of course that meant she needed to trim her bangs, Hinata thought as she blew some damp wisps of hair out of her eyes. She pulled the rest up into a small bun, so it wouldn't bother her while it dried.

Good, she thought. Nice simple thoughts; focus on _now_. That's right, grab keys, grab cellphone, open door, down stairs, grab jacket, put on shoes, close door…

She needed to not be left alone with her thoughts. Actually, there was someone who needed that even more than she did at the moment. Gaara. And that was all he'd been left with for the past few days. As she approached his house, Hinata decided to do something she'd never done before.

Break

_ Rap rap_.

Gaara stirred. He blinked his eyes and slowly turned his head to the source of the noise that had drawn him out of the miserable mental circles he'd been pacing. He sat up immediately, though, at the sight of none other than Hinata, perched on the tree outside his window. He could tell by the way she was crouched and how her other hand gripped the branch so hard her knuckles were turning white, that she wasn't used to being up there like that, so he pulled himself up and opened the window for her.

Hinata surveyed him. She hadn't seen Gaara in almost a week, and it was pretty obvious neither had anyone else. His eyes were slightly bloodshot and rimmed even darker than usual. His clothes were rumpled and his hair looked like a furry dog had taken up inhabitance there.

"C-C'mon, you," she said, climbing down and pushing him lightly towards the bathroom. "Get in the shower, y-you smell and we're going out."

Gaara just looked at her for a moment and Hinata flushed, afraid she'd upset him somehow. Bad Hinata. Bad. She just had to go and get pushy, didn't she?

However, the redhead frowned slightly and turned into the bathroom, closing the door softly, followed closely by the sound of running water. Hinata let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding.

Break

Hinata gulped. Don't look down, don't look down, don't look down. True, this had been her idea, but that didn't make scaling the school building any easier. Hinata wasn't _afraid_ of heights, just… _uncomfortable_ with them. This was for Gaara, she reminded herself, and reached for the ledge above her.

If there were two things that Hinata knew for certain about Gaara, it was that he loved adventure (danger), and hated rules. Therefore, this was perfect for the youngest Sabaku child. She couldn't see his expression from her position below him, but Hinata was sure this was doing some good for the red-haired teen.

In a weird kind of way, it was doing some good for Hinata, too. Even though they weren't talking as they reached the top and sat against the ledge that rimmed the roof, the presence of the other was calming, and helped to distract from the thoughts both of them were trying not to get into.

A light breeze ruffled Gaara's hair, and he closed his eyes. He knew he would never be able to tell Hinata how much it meant to him that she was there for him, no questions asked. Gaara wasn't the most verbally adequate person, and he knew that if he tried to express how grateful he was for her presence, how much she meant to him, he would certainly look like a fumbling idiot.

So he settled for simply enjoying her presence, ignoring the slight bit of uneasiness that spilled from it, and allowing himself to be calmed and distracted in the growing dark.

Hinata shivered slightly. The climb itself had been aptly distracting, but up on the roof in the quiet twilight, it was so peaceful; she could feel her thoughts slipping back to…

She shook her head to clear it. Song lyrics. She would recite song lyrics in her head to keep herself occupied.

_I see nothing in your eyes_

_ And the more I see the less I like,_

_ Is it obvious… you're in my head!_

_ I know nothing of your kind_

_ And I won't reveal your evil mind_

_ Is it obvious… I can't win!_

_ So sacrifice yourself, _

_ And let me have what's left_

_ I know that I can find _

_ The fire in your eyes_

_ I'm going all the way_

_ Get away please_

_ You take the breath right out of me,_

_ And left a hole where my heart should be._

_ You've gotta fight just to make it through,_

_ 'Cause I will be the death of you._

Hinata found herself silently crying. She reached up and dried her face on her sleeve. Gaara was in pain and she felt so helpless. Hinata didn't think she could solve this problem for him—no, whatever it was, Gaara would have to come to terms with his own past and find a way out of this.

But not alone.

Yes, Hinata thought, that was something she could do for him. In return for the strength he'd given her, she would be _his_ strength now. They would get through this together.

She nudged him lightly, and he looked up from his thoughts. Hinata then wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. She tried to pour all the reassurance and fortitude she could into that embrace, hoping to give it to him.

After a moment, Gaara put his own arms around her small frame and pulled her closer, burying his face in her soft dark hair. She felt her face flush at the closeness. They stayed like that for a while, and when they broke apart, Hinata's eyes were hardened with determination.

Break

"Hina~ta!" Tenten sang as she threw open the door to her friend's room. She had come over to visit Neji, to find him, well, not home. She didn't really care what he was doing; knowing Neji he was at the park, or something. So she decided to visit Hinata.

Tenten liked Hinata, even more so than some of the other girls she hung out with (cough, Sakura, cough). She was shy, but less socially awkward than Tenten's own pathetic excuse for a boyfriend. (That's a lie—she loved his awkwardness, it was adorable)

Hinata looked up from the book she was reading and gave her a small smile, "H-Hi, Tenten."

Tenten grinned. It didn't seem like the other girl was shying away from her, like it would have a few months ago, so she walked over and plopped herself down on the floor across from the blue-haired girl, who had buried her nose back into her book.

Tenten didn't read much—she didn't have the patience for it. How did Hinata do it? Tenten couldn't imagine sitting in one place long enough to focus on a story. Hmm, maybe that was why Naruto was her best friend out of all the guys in their group…

Okay, back on topic. "Hinata, it's a _really really_ nice day out, don't spend it moping around with squiggles of ink on paper. Come outside!" with that, Tenten grabbed her book out of Hinata's hands, holding it out of the shorter girl's reach.

"Hey!" Hinata reached out in an attempt to recover her book, "I'm g-going to l-lose my page, Tenten, g-give it back!" She reached even further, her shirt coming up on the bottom from the girl's stretching.

Tenten gave a small chuckle. Heh, Hinata was so short. "Well, I'm not letting you spend today like a hermit when the sun is shining and the sky is blue, and the wind doesn't want to blow you to Suna!"

The brunette got up, still holding Hinata's book hostage, and walked over to the Hyuuga girl's dresser. She pulled out a pair of pants, a t-shirt and a sweatshirt, tossing them to Hinata, who struggled to catch them.

"Put those on, we're going out,"

"B-But my book!"

"The book ain't going anywhere—the day is, though, so get dressed quickly."

Hinata sighed and began to remove her sweats. When Tenten got like this, there was no arguing with her. She supposed it was really nice out, but her book had just gotten interesting! She sighed again, pulling the sweatshirt on over her t-shirt, leaving it unzipped.

Tenten turned around to face her now-dressed friend, "Good, you're ready! Let's go." And with that the brunette dragged Hinata by the arm until the reached the front door.

Tenten pulled her worn-out converse on over mismatched socks (how _did_ people wear socks that matched?), and fixed the cuffs of her ripped jeans. She looked over to see Hinata finish tying her own converse (seriously, converse were going to rule the world, one day), and yanked the door open, stepping out into the sunshine.

They drove to town (Tenten "borrowed" her adoptive mother's car), bought smoothies, and then decided to walk the short distance to the park.

"Oh. My. God." Tenten stopped short and pulled Hinata behind at tree with her. "Look at that bench over there," Hinata peered around the trunk. Sitting next to each other on the bench were a certain Hyuuga boy, sitting upright in his usual stiff manner, and a particular redhead, slouched down on the wood, one arm on the back. Neither of them were talking, all four eyes staring straight ahead.

Tenten giggled at the sight. "Ooooh," she said with a huge grin on her face, "Your boyfriend is an awkward antisocial dork too!" the grin turned mischievous, "let's go!" The twin buns disappeared, and the two girls were stalking through the park behind the bench.

When they neared the two boys, Tenten crept up behind the long-haired Hyuuga and quickly snaked her arms around him, "Hey there, princess," She smirked at the opportunity to use her childhood nickname for him.

Neji smirked, of course he had sensed her presence, and so was not surprised. _Anyone_ would have sensed a presence that was so full of mischief and excitement. He tipped his head back, grabbing her face and kissing her on the mouth. Neji wasn't one for public displays of affection, but he knew that Tenten hated kissing him upside-down, and that was an opportunity that couldn't be missed.

"Mmfgh" she said into his mouth, breaking away and coming around to sit on his lap, 'cause it annoyed him. Neji, of course, tried to push her off, but Tenten sank her weight down, and Neji couldn't remove her without hurting her.

"You're fat," he whined, giving up. Tenten spread her legs and leaned into the boy, causing him to look very uncomfortable. Tenten smirked; she won, again. The bun-haired girl shifted her weight to a more comfortable position (for both of them).

Hinata giggled. She liked this Neji, the one that only showed when Tenten was around.

The sound of Hinata's laugh caused Gaara to look over at her. She noticed the instant in which his eyes un-glazed and realized her must have been in deep thought.

"H-Hi Gaara," he gave her a small smile, grabbing her hand and giving her his seat while he sat crossed-legged on the cool earth.

A bird gave it's call from a nearby tree, to be answered a few second later by another of its kind a little father off. Hinata closed her eyes in the warm sunlight of spring and smiled. This was nice.


	21. Chapter 21

Oh hey guess what? I'm not dead! Just been really busy.. anyway enjoy this longer chapter I've been working on since April, and sorry about the intense angst in the beginning.. i don't like that part much

Thanks to BookFan22 a.k.a GwenFan22 for the awesome review, and to sKyLaR KnIgHt, my ever-faithful reviewer.

**Disclaimed.**

*Edit: I realized you all probably forgot everything about this story after all this time, so here's a recap:

Hinata and Gaara are now going out, they've managed to make peace with some of Neji's friends, and school is about to end. Hidan's threat still hangs, and Gaara is clearly worried about it, while Hinata has been trying to fix the whole thing for Gaara ( 'cos she cares ), but Gaara doesn't know what she's doing.

Hope that clears stuff up for y'all!

* * *

Tenten stepped through her doorway, dripping wet and creating a puddle on the floor. She quickly stripped down to her underwear (even that was wet) and made a beeline for the bathroom.

She let the hot liquid cascade down her shoulders and warm her slightly shivering form. They had left school that day, only to encounter a torrential downpour that hadn't let up in the least as Tenten had slowly trudged home.

Twenty minutes, black sweatpants, a loose long-sleeve t-shirt, and a pair of fuzzy socks later found Tenten pulling her hair into looser versions of her customary buns. She closed her curtains and sat on her bed, iPod and laptop for company.

The brunette cranked up the volume on her iPod and lay back on her unmade bed, trying to drown out the sound of that accursed water.

_God, she hated the rain._

Tenten closed her eyes and tried to focus on the music, but that horrible drumming sound still leaked through. Tenten was a creature of the sun—her happiness depended on it; she thrived under it. She hated the rain: it made her think of things she would rather forget.

Forcefully pulling her thoughts away from that direction (at least partially), she rolled off the bed and stuck her iPod in the pocket of her sweatpants, still playing, and set about at one of her guaranteed mood-improvers: making a really big mess.

She walked through her room, kicking already messy piles into disarray and shuffling anything that looked too organized. Tenten was, like, the opposite of OCD—she liked things at odd angles and all over the place.

That done, she stood in the middle of a room so messy it would have made any sane person faint in shock. Now what? Tenten sat back on her bed and tried to watch a movie on her laptop, but soon got restless and had to get up. She walked around her apartment (hands behind her head, looking only at the floor and her own bare feet), did a set of pushups, opened the fridge and just stared at it for a good fifteen minutes, and found herself back in her room. She tried drawing, but soon re-discovered she was artistically challenged.

It was Thursday. Tenten was not going to school tomorrow. Her friends would understand, and her teachers couldn't care less. She looked at her clock: 9:08 PM. The damn red numbers pissed her off, so she unplugged it. Tenten was well aware there would be no sleep tonight, and possibly tomorrow night as well.

She stumbled on a textbook and uncovered a hacky sack, which amused her for a good three hours. Tired, the brunette climbed onto her bed, pushing the covers as far away as she could without letting them fall off, and lay at her back staring at the glow-in-the-dark stars on her ceiling (that currently weren't glowing, as the light was still on).

* * *

The screen went black, and white credits began to roll up from the bottom. Tenten blinked a few times, rubbed her eyes, and exited from fullscreen. She closed her laptop and rolled off the bed onto the soft clothes-covered floor. That was the fifth thriller/action movie she'd seen in a row, and her eyes felt like they were going to fall out of their sockets.

_She really, __**really**__, hated the rain._

She dragged herself up and stumbled into the kitchen, where she set about boiling water for instant coffee. The bun-haired girl brought the steaming mug (black, with lots of sugar) back into her bedroom. She stole a glance at her school bag, debating whether or not to do some schoolwork. It was getting close to finals, after all, and Tenten needed to do _something_. Not too much—she couldn't stand school, and had had senioritis since the eighth grade—but just enough to pass and get her into _some_ kind of college. After all, it wouldn't do to get left behind by her friends.

After 'working' for a couple of hours, Tenten peeked out the window, and was confronted with a day so dark it was practically night, accompanied by so much rain it had covered the glass completely and cold wind that leaked into the room (normally stopped by the curtains). Ew. Tenten shivered and replaced the curtain, trying to rub the goose bumps off her bare arms. Time to watch another movie involving fighting and guns, preferably featuring an attractive male lead. No sappy Asian dramas for her, no sir-ee.

She yawned and waited for the movie to load, rubbing her arms again. A particularly strong gust of wind brought the sound of rain pelting the building to Tenten's ears. Clenching her teeth at the sound, the brunette clasped her wrist.

_Did she mention that she hated the rain?_

Tenten pulled her shirt down in the back to combat the chill that had gone down her spine, and put her unadorned arms out in front of her, examining the pale silvery lines crisscrossed along the lower part. She never wore jewelry to hide this bit of her past (a past she kept very, _very_ private), she never had to—the best hiding place is in plain sight; people only see what they expect to see.

The bun-haired girl slid the hood of her sweatshirt (when had she put that on?) over her head and hugged herself tightly. Stupid rain, making her remember stupid things and loose her already-scarce sleep.

_Ugh, she hated the rain._

* * *

Tenten browsed through Netflix, trying to find another movie to watch. She came across one about ninja, or something. The brunette started streaming it immediately—it had Jackie Chan in it, Tenten loved Jackie Chan (even though she'd seen practically every one of his movies, including this one).

Just as the movie was about to start, she paused it, setting the computer off of her lap and padding into the kitchen. This movie called for poptarts.

She opened the cabinet and chose her favorite (icecream sundae), setting the box down on the counter. Suddenly, she was hit by a wave of emotion so strong she found herself doubled over on the cool granite, fist clenched in pain. All the sudden, she was back _then_, and all those unwanted emotions were rushing through her, causing her to slide to the floor in a heap, lost in a past she could never seem to shake.

Tenten stayed like that all night, eyes glazed over, staring at something from a past time, before she shook herself out of it and reached up behind her to grab the poptart and start munching on it, raw.

Finally, she got up and heated herself some more instant coffee, and then returned to her room and the Jackie Chan movie, dimming the lights and hiding herself under the covers, where it felt safe.

* * *

"Oi! Tenten!" Aforementioned girl shook herself out of the half-sleep and wiped a bit of drool from the corner of her mouth. She poked her head out from under the fort she'd constructed on her bed. (She liked forts, okay?)

"Teeeenteeeen! Youu've got a viiisito~r!"

Ogod, it was her adoptive mother, Anko, and she was _drunk_. Two questions came to mind: When had she come home? and Who got drunk on a Sunday at—she looked at her computer—11:06 in the morning?

Meh, she didn't really feel like judging. After all, Anko hated the rain almost as much as Tenten did; alcohol was her way of coping. The bun-haired (or rather, not quite bun-haired anymore) girl slithered out from her fort and pulled herself off the floor. She stretched and proceeded through the dark room towards the door, stubbing her toe on something along the way.

Swinging the door open, a softly grumbling Tenten was met with a smiling (and dry?) Hinata.

"Morning Tenten," she said as the taller girl simply stared at her dumbly. The blue-haired girl pushed something warm into her hand, and Tenten looked down at a cup of steaming, non-instant, coffee. Yum.

Downing the scalding black sugary liquid in record time, the brunette cracked a maniacal smile. Much better. Now, for the matter at hand.

"What brings you to my humble abode, oh fair Hinata?"

"This," she moved past Tenten farther into the room (hurricane disaster zone) and made a beeline towards the windows, yanking open the blackout curtains and flooding the space with bright sunlight.

"Oooooh!" Tenten said, catching on immediately. She began to dash around the room (_How was that even possible?_ thought Hinata), pulling off clothes as she went and exchanging them for a strappy shirt-thing and a pair of mini-shorts. She then ran into the bathroom, emerging seconds later with a toothbrush hanging out of a frothy mouth and one half of her hair done up in its bun.

Roughly three minutes after Hinata had first showed up in front of Tenten's bedroom door, the two were closing the apartment door behind them, leaving a drunk Anko safely inside.

Hinata pulled on an oversized sun hat as they stepped into the glorious heat of late spring. Right before Tenten pulled on her shades she noticed the Hyuuga girl's shoulders and arms tinted pink. _God, that girl is so pale; she got burnt walking here from her place!_ Tenten felt a surge of gratefulness for her own naturally tanned skin.

After some time of what seemed like aimless walking, Tenten turned to Hinata through the dark orangey-red tint of her sunglasses and finally asked the petite girl where they were going.

In answer, Hinata turned a corner and pointed, a small smile turning into a big grin as she walked over to a certain redhead, who was busy trying to still look cool while slathering SPF 100 sunscreen anywhere the sun could reach.

Pfft, gingers, Tenten thought.

"_Ahhem,_" the brunette turned toward the sound and got a face-full of hard chest. Toned chest… okay then. She looked up and met pale eyes, then threw herself at Neji with such force that the boy stumbled a little.

Hah! Tenten smiled inwardly at her revenge for sneaking up on her. He in turn regained his balance and lifted her up by the back of her thighs, pulling her up against him. Tenten shrieked and started resisting—she _hated_ being picked up.

Neji smirked at her, sure he'd won until the brunette abruptly stopped struggling and leaned up, locking lips with him. The longhaired boy momentarily forgot where they were and deepened the kiss.

Someone coughed, and the two broke apart to find a very uncomfortable-looking Kiba standing next to a skittish Ino. Neji put Tenten down so suddenly that she nearly yanked him down by the neck, which she was still holding on to. Hah! Tenten wins!

"Well, are we going or what?" Kiba sounded slightly impatient.

"Going where?" Tenten had still yet to be told where they were going.

After a moment's pregnant pause, the dog-lover seemed unable to contain his excitement and blurted out "The water park, of course!" A wolfish smile lit his face and he ran to the door of what Tenten presumed was his car. Damn, she'd forgotten he'd gotten his license. Tenten cursed her own late birthday—she didn't want to wait until August to be seventeen!

The six of them piled into their respective cars and hit the highway. As the morning peaked and started into afternoon, it got steadily hotter—Tenten and Neji rolled down all the windows in Neji's car, and so Tenten had to turn the speakers all the way up, her voice getting lost in the wind that was blowing stray pieces of her buns as she sang along to the music.

It wasn't until they reached the changing rooms of the water park that Tenten realized she didn't have a bathing suit. She started to flail around worrying if they would kick her out if she wore her underwear until Hinata pulled a bundle of white cloth out of her bag.

"Here," she said with a smile, handing her the bikini.

The incredibly grateful Tenten returned her smile, leaving her previous question to be answered on another day.

* * *

The next few hours were spend in a wonderfully predictable manner. Hinata and Gaara sad under an umbrella, sharing Gaara's iPod and trying not to get burnt/splashed. Tenten hit the slides, accompanied by Kiba, whooping and screaming as they charged through the park. Neji had taken it upon himself to guard Ino, who was on her first outing since…that. The blonde sat at a picnic table next to Neji, watching her boyfriend with tired eyes and jumping at every person who neared them.

As the sun started to set, Tenten and Kiba returned, dripping wet and complaining about food. Hinata recoiled from the wetness and all but shoved towels at the two.

The other four listened to their whining for almost a full four minutes before Neji cracked—a personal record on his part.

"Fine," he sighed, standing up, "I'll go get some food."

"Yay!" Tenten got up too and threw herself on him, still hugging him as they walked, just to embarrass him.

The two returned with copious amounts of French fries, nachos, hamburgers and the like. Tenten and Kiba immediately began to devour the food, quickly turning it into an eating contest that ended in a tie when a bird approached Ino, who jumped and knocked everything off the table.

Neji slapped Tenten's hand as she attempted to pick up a fry from the ground—to which she responded by sticking out her tongue at him, 'coz she was mature like that. They turned their attention to a frantically apologizing Ino, who was slowly being placated by Hinata.

Bellies full, the six of them trooped to the parking lot on five pairs of feet. Hinata had started walking with the rest, but the ever-observant Gaara had noticed her slight limp, and Hinata grudgingly confessed to burning the bottoms of her feet (Tenten hadn't even known that was possible). The redhead had promptly picked up the tiny girl and put her on his back. Tenten, of course, immediately demanded Neji do the same, before remembering that she hated being picked up… slight problem… whatever…she let the matter drop.

* * *

Hinata felt a low chuckle underneath her as Gaara laughed quietly at something Kiba said. She watched the dog-lover put his arm possessively around Ino, then turned her attention to Tenten, who was trying to provoke a reaction of any sort from the stoic older Hyuuga. Hinata knew that if it had been anyone but Tenten, their efforts would have been in vain. The indigo-haired girl cracked a small smile and rested her head on Gaara's shoulder as she let the warm orange light of sinking sun engulf them. For a moment, she was overcome by a feeling of total relaxation—

And then she felt every muscle in Gaara's body tense. His stride remained unchanged, but Hinata followed the direction his eyes had traveled in and found a tanned man with a black bandana covering half his face. He was standing on the edge of the parking lot, near a small stretch of woods, and staring right at Gaara with a gaze so intense Hinata could practically _see_ its path.

Hinata was smart; she could put two and two together. The man was obviously one of Hidan's—nothing else could make Gaara so tense. However, as they slid into Gaara's car (Kankuro's jeep), no one else seemed to have noticed anything.

Hinata would have assumed she'd just imagined the whole thing, if not for the fact that Gaara had started the car and locked the doors. He never locked the doors.

Gradually, the redhead seemed to relax, though Hinata was not entirely convinced. Sighing inwardly, she pushed her premonitions away.

* * *

Monday. Ew. Nobody liked Mondays, and Hinata was no exception. She stumbled out of her house, a piece of toast in her mouth and still in the process of tying her hair back, and fell in stride with Gaara. She snapped her hair tie in place and removed the toast from her mouth before handing the redhead a pear. Hinata had been trying to feed him breakfast for a while, before she found that Gaara really liked pears, which she now brought him every day.

They headed straight for their first period class, English—having given up on stopping at their lockers due to crunched time—and took their seats just as the bell rang. Hinata loved English, with its beautiful poetry and exciting novels—she was a bookworm through and through. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and tried to pay attention to the teacher who was talking about finals—wait, finals!

It was finals time already? Where did the past several weeks go? It was Monday and finals were starting on…Wednesday! She must have gotten so caught up in the whole 'Hidan' affair, and learning self-defense from Gaara, and what happened to Ino… yeah, they'd been busy. It was no wonder she hadn't realized how much time had passed. She'd have to pull all her notes together, and reorganize her binders, and dig up her flash cards…

"Hinata," Gaara's low voice brought her attention back from study-land. She looked up and realized class had ended. The Hyuuga gathered her books and let Gaara walk her towards her next class.

Someone pushed past her in the hall, and Hinata ignored it with practiced ease. Things were going back to normal, and it was time to get to work for the last week of school before summer. With that thought she slid through the doorway and set her books down on a desk, scanning the board for that night's homework.

* * *

Hinata rubbed her eyes and tucked her notebook under her arm as she left the gym amidst the crowd of students attempting to escape as soon as possible. She yawned and looked at her watch: 1:09 pm. She still had another 20 minutes until Gaara's (and Tenten's) Spanish exam finished. Walking through the hallways towards the nearest vending machine, she half-heartedly cursed her father for insisting all Hyuugas study French. Damn those verbs.

She pulled a neatly folded dollar from her pencil case and fed it to the machine, watching her Dr. Pepper slide forward and drop with a loud 'thump' to the bottom. Hinata twisted it open and took a wonderfully fizzy sip. She eyed the plastic bottle with an uncharacteristic appreciation for the caffeine.

Four minutes later found Hinata leaning against the wall outside the library, having finally lost patience with waiting for the exam to end. She slid down until her butt hit the cool tile of the floor, her knees pulled up against her. There were only seven minutes until her friends finished their Spanish exams, so she would just sit there and wait…

Someone was poking her cheek. Hinata opened her eyes to squint at a pair of brown buns. Tenten was leaning over the indigo-haired girl and poking her, while Gaara watched, looking impassive.

"Huh? Tenten, stop poking me," Hinata shifted stiffly and realized with a jolt that she'd fallen asleep. Gaara offered her a hand, and Hinata stood up, meeting eyes that held a look she knew to be concern. His worry wasn't misplaced, though, after all, Hinata _had_ pulled two all-nighters in an attempt to finish studying for all her exams in two and a half days. But it was Thursday, and they only had one more final left.

* * *

Hinata closed her door and collapsed on her bed. She lay there for a moment, reveling in the feel of the cool sheets against her face, before pushing herself up and sitting at her desk, in front of her laptop. As much as she wanted to sleep, Hinata was still determined to find a way to end this conflict with Hidan, once and for all.

* * *

Well that was more than 3,000 words! You should all be proud of me, since I've been trying to write this for a long time. i just got caught up in the busiest time of year, so I'm very very sorry for the lack of update since you probably all forgot about me. Anyway, I hope you all liked the mostly Tenten-centric chapter, I thought we needed to change it up a bit.

I actually finished this yesterday, instead of studying for my chemistry final (which sucked), but was being weird. I'm home now, so expect many updates in the next two weeks to make up for it!

Oh! And even more exciting! I recently learned how to reply to reviews! (yes, I'm _that_ technology-impaired) so if you leave me a review, I will reply to you, so go press that pretty button and I'll come out with a really fast update!

TheCynic'sDream

P.S. i still need votes on your preference: NaruSaku or SasuSaku. We've got a tie.


	22. Chapter 22

**Ohay im not dead! I would like to apologize for the wait and the failure of my technological skills, and I wanted to thank Hyuga09 and Life is no Fairytale for pointing out my formatting errors, and also the fact that most of my chapters now have no author's notes. But all that can wait because WE HIT 100 REVIEWS! ASDFGHJKL i just screamed and danced around my house even though my parents had a bunch of guests and rushed to upload this chapter, which will probably be re-edited and posted when my lovely new beta LunaRoad gets back home. **

**So here you go, just like I promised (even though I forgot to tell you all), a chapter as soon as I got 100 reviews. **

**And so, this chapter is dedicated to psyiNoheart for being my 100th reviewer and for talking to me :3**

**Disclaimer: yes, in the two months i was gone, i secretly acquired millions of dollars and bought Naruto. Then i woke up.**

* * *

"Woohoo! Freedom!" Kiba hollered, jumping around on the sidewalk. Tenten rolled her eyes and threw her cellphone at him, hitting her mark perfectly. Hinata giggled quietly and Gaara smirked.

Kiba pouted and walked a couple feet back to where the group had been traveling at a leisurely pace, nursing the side of his head.

"Haha! She really got you, dog-breath!" Naruto grinned at the brown haired boy.

"Shut it, loser!" Kiba replied good-naturedly and pulled the hood of Naruto's orange sweatshirt over the blond's head.

"Che," that was Neji, who had placed himself as far away from the two boys as possible. Tenten noticed this and sighed. At least Hinata was here, she thought.

Kiba (being the thick-headed person he was) had called Naruto and Neji to go out for a burger, and Neji, who couldn't stand to be alone with the two overly-energetic boys, had dragged Tenten along. Tenten, who really, _really_ didn't want to have to deal with Neji and Naruto in the same room (she and her temper weren't exactly diplomat material), had called Hinata, who had been with Gaara at the time. And of course Ino and Kiba were practically attached at the hip, so Ino had come along as well.

And that was how all seven of them had ended up walking through town on the first Monday of summer.

They trooped into the diner and were immediately confronted by the smell of grease that just masked lemon Windex, tinted with the metallic sharpness of air conditioning. Hinata sighed as the cool air of the diner hugged her; she was definitely _not_ made to withstand heat, and Konoha had been having a heat wave—it was nearly 100 degrees in the sun! The lavender-eyed teen felt a surge of gratitude for the marvel that was air-conditioning.

She and Gaara slid into the corner of the booth-plus-two-tables-pushed-together, and within minutes they all had steaming plates of greasy food in front of them. Hinata munched on a French fry and leaned comfortably into Gaara, trying to look as composed as Neji in the face of the rest of the boys (plus Tenten) attacking their food with complete disregard for all manners.

Bellies full, Gaara and Hinata paid for their share of the food and left the others, still eating. It had been so chaotic lately that they had gotten very little time together. They wound through the streets and came out at the west entrance to the park.

At the sight of the wooded sanctuary, Gaara immediately brightened up, looking like a heavy load had been lifted off his shoulders (a load consisting of two hyperactive boys, one Neji and one bun-haired girl) and made a beeline for the woods.

The redhead picked a large, sturdy tree and hopped up into it, holding a hand out for Hinata, which she accepted and let herself be pulled up into the branches. The two climbed a bit higher, and soon Hinata found herself in a separate world, engulfed in green. Gaara sat leaning against the trunk of the tree, allowing Hinata to lean against his well-defined chest. The redhead didn't even tense at the contact anymore—touching was okay, if it was Hinata. Even so, the Sabaku still got edgy sometimes, not that Hinata was ever bold enough to make him uncomfortable.

Gaara wrapped his strong arms around her, feeling her silky hair on his neck as she leaned back into him, her small, lithe form pressing comfortably against his torso. His legs hung down, gripping the branch lightly while hers extended, one leg bent slightly at the knee.

A light breeze caught a few strands of her hair and Gaara's senses were flooded with her scent; she smelled of lavender, ivory soap, and sunscreen. The redhead made a soft noise of contentment, a low rumbling sound from the throat. This caused Hinata, feeling the slight vibration, to twist her neck to look up at him. He stared at those soft, pink lips of hers, and almost involuntarily (though not unwillingly) took her lips in his in a sweet, tender kiss, untainted by the emotional turmoil they both suppressed.

They broke apart, and Gaara kissed her cheek, leaning down to place light kisses on Hinata's neck down to her collarbone. She shivered slightly and pulled her arms out from under his, grabbing him gently by the back of his head and pulling him into a deep kiss, her hands playing with his short crimson locks.

Gaara placed his hands on her thin waist and turned her the rest of the way to face him, her short-clad legs straddling the branch as well. He left his hands there, feeling the soft lines of her curves. Hinata flicked his ear playfully without breaking the kiss, and moved her hands to rest lightly on his chest. Her slender fingers ghosted over the contours of the muscles, and Gaara suppressed a shiver.

The kiss ended, and the only sound was their heavy breathing. Hinata looked up and stared into his beautiful jade green eyes, searching. She didn't find much—Gaara's eyes rarely betrayed him—but nevertheless she let herself get lost in the deep orbs, searching for tiny traces of emotion. She saw the remains of old pain and distrust, lingering underneath the affection that filled his gaze whenever it was directed at her.

Those eyes saddened Hinata; they had been through so much. She wanted to be strong enough to help Gaara bear his problems and his pain. Hinata was sure by now that she cared deeply for him, even lo—no, she was still afraid of that word. It was binding. Hinata was afraid of giving her heart and having it stepped on, even if it was Gaara.

She was brought back from her thoughts by the hand that cupped her cheek. She watched Gaara's stone-hard eyes soften further as they gazed on her, and a rare smile—a full one—lit his face. It was beautiful, and contagious. Hinata couldn't help but smile at the sincerity of the expression she saw so rarely.

"You're beautiful," he said in that soft voice, his gaze traveled her face as if trying to memorize it, "especially when you smile."

Hinata blushed, never having been good at taking the few compliments she'd ever gotten. She was nothing special, really, and she told him so.

The intensity of Gaara's responding glare conveyed his opinion on that. End of conversation, topic closed, do not mention that again in my presence.

So the Hyuuga merely pecked his cheek and turned back around to rest on Gaara, enjoying the motion of his breathing. They stayed like that, in a silence that was broken by small bouts of conversation, until the green light around them began to darken and Gaara pulled out his cellphone to look at the time.

"We should go," he said.

So they climbed down from the tree, a little stiff and sporting numb bottoms. Hinata brushed her shorts off just for good measure, and the two of them began to cut across the park towards home.

Somewhere along the way, Hinata's hand found its way into Gaara's.

* * *

Hinata hummed happily as she half-skipped down the sidewalk under the dappled sunlight created by the branches above her. She was going home after having spent the night at Tenten's. Her un-brushed teeth still tasted of microwave popcorn, and there were three eyeliner-pencils tucked into her pocket, given to her by Tenten despite the indigo-haired girl's many protests ("Omaigod you look _so_ sexy. You're taking them! —Don't argue.").

Annoyance briefly flitted across her mind—Hinata never liked receiving gifts, it reminded her that she could count every gift she'd ever gotten on her fingers.… Whatever. She decided not to mind it, or the fact that it was already 1 o'clock in the afternoon, and therefore most of her Wednesday was now wasted. It was summer, after all. The sun was shining, Temari was sure to have coffee, and life was good.

Now, though, she planned on going home and brushing her teeth before going to see Gaara. The boy was still spending an unhealthy amount of time in his room, brooding. At least he left the door unlocked and even sometimes open, a definite improvement. Hinata couldn't blame him though, considering…

She shook her head to clear her mind of those thoughts, pulling her giant sun hat back into place. None of that could be dealt with until they had a lead on Hidan, who had up and vanished like a tendril of smoke, and there was even less sense in brooding about it now. Hinata firmly shoved all thoughts that didn't have to do with Crest toothpaste out of her head as she walked up her driveway and pushed open the front door.

It was ten minutes later, as Hinata was standing with fresh clothes and breath, inexpertly poking her eye with the evil makeup, that she received a text from Temari marked 'URGENT READ NAO OR DIE.'

Hinata sighed lightly and picked up her phone, only to nearly drop it a moment later in excitement as she grabbed her waiting bag off her bed and made a mad dash out the door.

She arrived, panting slightly, in the living room of the Sabaku house only three and a half minutes later. The Hyuuga nearly dragged Temari into the kitchen (one of the few places the boys entered only when they were positive of their sister's absence, most likely out of fear of Temari's wrath if they left anything out of place).

"Tell me, Temari, w-what did you find?" She asked with a gleam in her pearly eyes.

Temari rechecked that the door was firmly shut and they could still hear music blasting from Gaara's room, unaware of Hinata's arrival. "An old member of Hidan's gang," she said and Hinata's eyes widened. "I don't really know his story, but apparently he was involved with Hidan for a while and then left. Just like that."

Hinata frowned. There was definitely more to this story, but it didn't seem like Temari knew anything more than what she'd shared. Hinata had to talk to this man, although she wasn't quite sure what she would say. In fact, the Hyuuga now realized, she hadn't really planned farther than getting a lead on Hidan's location.

"W-Well, now what?" she asked the older girl.

"I couldn't get a number," the blonde started, looking a little pissed, "but every Thursday night he works at a place downtown. If we want to see him, we have to go there."

"Okay, I'll go there tomorrow night. What time do they open?"

"Aaw hell no! Girl if you think I'm letting you go there alone you must be farther off the deep end than my youngest brother. I'm coming with you." Temari looked at her like she truly feared for Hinata's mental state.

"Okay, okay!" Hinata decided to quickly change the subject before Temari went all older sister on her ass—the Hyuuga had enough people trying to protect her as it was. "Do you have any coffee?"

Temari gave her a look that said 'are you retarded? I live with fucking _Gaara_. Of course I have coffee!'

Hinata gave a small smile to appease the blonde and quietly mused about her friend's mental stability. Maybe Temari should lay off the caffeine…

Two warm mugs were placed in the Hyuuga's hands and said Hyuuga was promptly shooed from the kitchen and told to go "be social." Hinata raised an eyebrow at the suggestion but nevertheless turned and opened the door to Gaara's room.

"Hey," she said and handed him his black coffee before taking a sip of her milky, sugary mutilated version of said holy liquid. Gaara placed the mug precariously on the edge of his bed and went over to turn off the stereo.

Hinata's stomach flip-flopped, as it did whenever Gaara did something incredibly sweet and gentlemanly, like turning off the loud music because Hinata had sensitive ears. For a moment she couldn't believe a guy like him could be wrapped up in such a dangerous mess.

"So," she said, taking a seat on the bed once she was sure the cup of coffee was safely in Gaara's hands, "what do you want to do today?"

Gaara pondered it for a moment, and Hinata took the opportunity to watch him—in a non-creepy way of course. His messy red locks had gotten a little longer and now they started to creep past the nape of his neck, covering his ears slightly. Hmm, he definitely needed a haircut. Hinata did _not_ like guys with long hair, it was too… girly.

His gaze returned to her, sea foam orbs staring into her pearly ones. Hinata tried to ignore how prominently his dark circles stood out by deciding he looked like a panda. She giggled at the thought and told him so. Gaara's eyes narrowed and he poked her in the side, causing her to shriek and flail a bit. She was ticklish, okay?

The redhead's eyes widened fractionally, sparked with mischief, and he poked her again, receiving another shriek and Hinata scrambled out of his reach. So she was _really_ ticklish, sue her.

Gaara then proceeded to tickle Hinata, who was flailing her limbs and sending the bedsheets everywhere.

"S-S-Stop it!" she choked out through her laughter, "I c-can't breathe!"

Finally, after what seemed like hours of torture-induced laughter (it was really only about five minutes), the tickle-assault stopped, and Hinata sat up, sides aching and trying to catch her breath.

She looked over and threw Gaara a half-hearted glare. The redhead just shrugged, smirking. Hinata slid off the bed and readjusted her shirt, pretending to ignore him.

Gaara slid off the bed as well, landing much more gracefully than Hinata, and wrapped his arms around her from behind. Hinata placed her hands over his and tipped her head towards his.

"Let's go for a walk," he nodded and they left the bedroom, receiving a funny look from Temari on their way out.

* * *

It was stupid. It was out of character. It was funny. It was a distraction. They needed it.

The two stopped behind a tree and peeked out to watch a certain Akatsuki's chicken-butt-haired little brother fighting with the hyperactive blond they all knew and (sorta) loved.

"Stop trying to steal my girlfriend!" Naruto roared, looking about ready to punch the other boy.

Sasuke smirked, hands in pockets and slouching a little, obviously trying to imitate his older brother. "I'm not; it's not my fault if she prefers me over you." He looked at the blond with what he hoped was a haughty expression.

Sasuke's face had the effect desired: Naruto growled and lunged at the dark haired boy, who dodged easily. Naruto straightened up and glared.

"You're just jealous 'cause Sakura's _my_ girlfriend!"

"Che, as if. Why would I want _your_ sloppy seconds?"

Naruto growled and launched himself at the dark-haired teen once more. Sasuke, still mentally gloating about his witty comeback, didn't react in time and he landed on his back with the blond on top of him.

"Aah! Geroff me you asshole!" Sasuke shouted, trying to push him off. But Naruto was trying to scramble off him at the same time, limbs flailing everywhere and making it impossible for both of them.

Hinata giggled and turned back towards Gaara, only to find him shaking with suppressed laughter. She looked up at his stoic face and said, as seriously as she could,

"Let's leave these two alone,"

"Hm." Gaara was no longer shaking, but Hinata could clearly see his barely-hidden mirth.

She linked her fingers with his and they strode casually out from behind the tree, leaving the oblivious boys still fighting.

* * *

"..You're not seriously thinking of going in that." Temari deadpanned, staring at Hinata. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a spaghetti-strap top. Her hair was up in a ponytail and her face was completely unadorned.

The Hyuuga girl looked so confused Temari could almost picture her scratching her head.

"Uh, y-yeah."

"No no no. Not acceptable." And so Temari grabbed her by the arm and dragged a bewildered Hinata into her room. It was a good thing Hyuugas always arrived early.

Thirty minutes later, Temari stood back and admired her handiwork. She could honestly claim that Hinata looked around 18. Perfect. The blonde mentally patted herself on the back. She really was a genius at this.

Hinata pulled at her 'clothing', feeling extremely uncomfortable. She was trying to make her mini-skirt less 'mini' and more 'skirt', but to no avail. And her shirt showed _way_ more than she was comfortable with. Her face felt heavy with all the makeup Temari had caked on, and Hinata was absolutely certain she would be falling in those damn heels.

She was _very_ glad Gaara wouldn't see her dressed like this. He might have a nosebleed, or go on a jealous rampage. Or both. Hinata suppressed a shudder.

She sighed for the ump-teenth time that night, "Can we go now?"

"Not quite yet." Temari went and dug through her dresser, augmenting its disarray. What she finally pulled out made Hinata's eyes widen. When Temari carefully tucked the small knife into the back of Hinata's skirt, the Hyuuga's hands began to shake.

Temari, on the other hand, was acting like this was completely normal as she pulled out a…handgun! The blonde tucked it into her bag and walked towards the door. She paused at the doorway and turned back to the dark-haired girl.

"Coming?"

Suddenly Hinata had a bad feeling about this.

* * *

**So it needs editing, but I figured I owed you all. AAAAH 100 REVIEWS! i can't tell you guys how happy that makes me! I never thought my first fanfic would make it this far! **

**Chapters are getting longer, you should all be proud of me for it. In five days I leave for school and start junior year so updating will be hard, but REVIEWS will keep me at it (and my lovely beta).**

**So how bout it? Lets make it 110 reviews! There are 39 people with this story on alert right now, so that shouldn't be hard if a couple of you just click that pretty button!**

**Love,**

**TheCynic'sDream**


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